Monica > Recent Status Updates

I was almost worried Matteo wasn't going to make another appearance. Glad to be wrong!

I keep feeling like I'm missing something. Almost like this is a sequel somehow

YOU'RE A THERAPIST LAUREN BE BETTER HEALTHY CONVERSTAIONS ARE ESSENTIAL

There should have been a kiss here!! Something, please! I'm begging you, I can't do slow burns

Zach isn't asking about the bar brawl, but I sure am! Tell me what happened alreadyyy

I'm so glad these excerpts aren't real! "Julienned by Love" just made me gag

I know I'm about to die for this "You've Got Mail" trope

"She'd hurt his stupid fee-fees" straight to jail. What

This is HEART WRENCHING! There's an entire book ahead, and I can't even begin to imagine what it contains. I don't know if I'm excited or full of dread

I'm nearly halfway through this book and I feel like barely anything has happened? Like were just barely past setting up the story or plot

One of the oft-mentioned astronomers makes an appearance!

I just love when there's a truly surprising twist. I never would have seen this coming.

I'm glad to see the betrayal will not be coming

I really appreciate how the steward was shown as multi-faceted and given a chance to be seen as sympathetic. She could have easily just been a one-time villain but now we see her as another person with their own life and problems

I have the awful sense that Ning is going to be betrayed by this girl

Wow Lucie made this decision much easier than I thought she would

How could he possibly get even more romantic? And of course you messed up Charlotte! You have no common sense

Look, I have to admit Cecil was almost charming a couple chapters ago at the engagement party. But then he goes and insults Lucie's mom so egregiously? Get. Him. OUT OF HERE!

He's back!!

Someone get this guy out of here. I can't believe Lucie fell for Cecil *gag* When does George come back???

The Neruda quote is sooooo romantic!

I'm never going to get over how this book specifically blends reality with fantasy. It makes me nostalgic for something I never had

Trick worlds where everything is too perfect and they try to suck you in and trap you are my favorite kinds of magical traps. They are so darkly enticing

I love how often this book reiterates that the storyline doesn't follow the typical tropes of a magical adventure. Not because that's cliche but because reality doesn't work that way, even though Zachary is on a magical adventure. Idk if I'm making sense. The book describes that indescribable quality much better

"Strange, isn’t it? To love a book. When the words on the pages become so precious that they feel like part of your own history because they are."

"All the dumplings" is also the request I would make of an amazing magical kitchen!

I like this realization about the construct of gender roles. I particularly like the line as Simon "wonders what makes a woman a witch." Poignant

What I wouldn't give to have an adventure like this! And I love that Zachary is aware of stories like Narnia so he's cognizant of the position he's in, at the beginning of his own tale

The first time I read this I thought the plot was a little slow. While I would still describe it that way, this read through I'm actually listening to the audio book and Cecil Baldwin's narrating makes it much more enjoyable overall.

I apparently totally forgot I've read this before? Which means I'm basically reading it again for the first time and I'm excited! Rip my heart out please