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Tokyo Ever After
Read on 11/06/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Interesting protagonist and their struggle with finding ‘home’. Fresh take on the ‘suddenly royal’, the ‘royal vs commoner’ and the ‘makeover and etiquette lessons’ tropes. Writing is lacking, dialogues are okay but the descriptions flow quite badly with jittery sentences.
The Awkward Truth
Read on 12/06/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Believable character development, bigger depth than usual for the genre, well written (although somewhat exaggerated) characters.
Ratings as of 06/12/22: 894 (<5000)
Hot Asset
Read on 14/06/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fun dialogues, interesting characters with integrity and a healthy level of personal aspirations not to drop all their career goals for the other person. Particularly appreciated that the usual story line of ‘minor misunderstanding spirals out of control and the characters don’t talk to each other for weeks because they both think the other is at fault’ is replaced with ‘they talk, trust and move on’.
The Earl of London
Read on 15/06/22
⭐️⭐️
Partially blaming the GR recommendation algorithm for focusing on ‘more of the exact same’ too much - but it felt derivative, with all the major plot lines and characters being entirely too similar to other recent reading experiences. Also, hyperbole appeared as a supporting actor in the second half.
Girls of Paper and Fire
Read on 18/06/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Starts off slowly, but it’s worth the wait. There are some unexpected twists, and it is less predictable than some others in the genre. The romance element is not overpowering, just the right amount, and the protagonist is not the classic “avenging angel / overpowered semi-superhero / trained assassin hiding in plain sight” type, which helps with relatability.
Anatomy: A Love Story
Read on 19/06/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Very relatable lead character with scientific ambitions and a disregard for 19th century expectations for women. Comical (but also sad) male characters who keep “mansplaining”. Slightly confusing ending. Trigger warning: gruesome details about removing various body parts.
From Lukov with Love
Read on 21/06/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Slow build-up; but it is absolutely worth it - enables for characters with detailed backgrounds and it is a good length for decent character development as well. In the enemies-to-friends-to-lovers sequence, the enemies had the best dialogues, the friends had the best scenes, and the lovers were just simply amazing. And learnt so much about figure skating as well!
Page count according to GR: 538 (>500)
Shipped
Read on 22/06/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Interesting and unusual setup, (some) fun dialogues. It is modern, as in 2020s level modern, where the character had bluetooth speakers in their childhood and a remote working employee is not unusual. However, some of the modernity felt just a tiny bit too much, with some of the anti-misogynistic sentiment being like an over-peppered bowl of rice: edible, but too noticeable.
The Black Moth
Read on 26/06/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Twists and turns on every page, quite unpredictable storyline, written with humour and sarcasm. And reading it, one cannot help but feel sorry for even the less likeable characters. Some archaic language features make it harder to read than later works from GH.
First published in 1921 (<1922)
The Charm Offensive
Read on 27/06/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Feel-good rom-com with surprisingly multi-dimensional characters. Great mental health representation which goes beyond the usual “one hug and one therapy session and everything is fine”. Great LGBT+ representation which goes beyond the first two letters in the acronym. Likeable protagonists, disturbing villains.
Set in: US, Germany, South Africa, Bali.
The Wrath and the Dawn
Read on 29/06/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Interesting storyline, minor elements of magic, strong female lead, tragic past. Occasionally reminiscent of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. The jumps in the storyline made it hard to follow at times (several moments of “is there a chapter missing from here?”). Following from that, the romantic storyline develops a bit (too) suddenly.
Genre according to GR: fantasy, romance [n(Genre) > 1]
The Rose & the Dagger
Read on 30/06/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Good conclusion to the duology, quite a few unexpected twists and turns. Emotions still developed a bit (too) suddenly, but less gaps in the storyline chapter by chapter.
Cover: multiple tiny daggers in the grid pattern.
The Lady Risks All
Read on 02/07/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
After devouring the (almost) complete bibliography of Georgette Heyer and Mary Balogh, this was a refreshingly different take on the genre. The story being set below the social class located on the “ballroom/drawing room/Rotten Row” triangular allows for more freedom in terms of particular twists and turns. The elements of mystery were unpredictable, and - apart from it being obviously HEA given the genre - the endgame was similarly obfuscated until the last pages. The characters physical attraction was off the scale, but their emotional attachment was also sufficiently well-developed. Overall, it is time for consuming the complete bibliography of Stephanie Laurens.
Original publication date: 2012
Author’s year of birth: 1953
Age at time of writing: 2012-1953 = 59 (>50)
By a Thread
Read on 03/07/22
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A well-written, funny specimen of the “steamy, workplace, enemies-to-lovers” category, with an unusually good level of physical and emotional connection. The characters are interesting, the problems believable. The level of maturity is (strongly) questionable given the age of the protagonists (40-45) - one would think (although one does not have the age to definitively say…) that people in that age bracket handle childhood trauma with more use of emotional intelligence.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
By a Thread (other topics)By a Thread (other topics)
The Lady Risks All (other topics)
The Lady Risks All (other topics)
The Rose & the Dagger (other topics)
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Hot Yoga - 100 points
1a. A book with a twist
1b. A romance
1c. An author you've been meaning to try
1d. A book with a lot of hype
1e. A person is on the cover
Jazzercise - 200 points
Author's initials are in:
2a. PUMP UP THE JAM
✅ 2b. LET'S GET PHYSICAL - By a Thread (read on 03/07/22)
2c. HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF
2d. CANT TOUCH THIS
✅ 2e. THE FINAL COUNTDOWN - Girls of Paper and Fire (read on 18/06/22)
Cross Fit - 300 points
✅ 3a. A book published in 2022 - Anatomy: A Love Story (read on 19/06/22)
✅ 3b. Part of a series of at least three books - Hot Asset (read on 14/06/22)
✅ 3c. A book that combines more than one genre - The Wrath and the Dawn (read on 29/06/22)
✅ 3d. Title includes the name of a place (real or fictional) - The Earl of London (read on 15/06/22)
✅ 3e. Set in more than one country - The Charm Offensive (read on 27/06/22)
Aquarobics - 400 points
✅ 4a. By an author over the age of 50 - The Lady Risks All (read on 02/07/22)
✅ 4b. Published before 1922 - The Black Moth (read on 26/06/22)
✅ 4c. The cover has water on it - Shipped (read on 22/06/22)
4d. A book that takes place in more than one era of time
4e. A biography or memoir
Ninja Warrior - 500 points
✅ 5a. A book with more than 500 pages - From Lukov with Love (read on 21/06/22)
✅ 5b. A book set primarily in Japan - Tokyo Ever After (read on 11/06/22)
5c. A collection of essays, poems, or short stories
✅ 5d. A weapon is on the cover - The Rose & the Dagger (read on 30/06/22)
✅ 5e. A book with fewer than 5000 goodreads ratings - The Awkward Truth (read on 12/06/22)
TOTAL POINTS: 5100 🥳