Mariana ✨ > Recent Status Updates

“Then I doom scroll until midnight and question my entire existence.”

she’s real for that

the yearning and pining doesn’t even work because both of them are doing it for no reason. just date for real, for fuck’s sake! this conflict and internal turmoil each of them has feels so forced…

“When Noah touches me like this, it gets harder to pretend that this is still fake. I feel special, like I’m something precious he wants to keep forever. I don’t want this to end, but we set an expiry date before it even began.”

this whole conflict feels so artificial because they literally both like each other!!! just date for real, omg 🙄🥱

they both strongly suspect that the other likes them back and yet the book is gonna drag for hundreds of pages, still… 🫩🥱

“I like her a lot. I want this thing between us to become real. I want us to stop pretending we can’t see what’s right in front of us. And I think she wants that, too.”

Halfway through the book and I’m wondering “what am i still doing here? This story could be finished already!” 🫤

“that simple kiss to the back of my hand has me wanting to tell him the biggest secret I’ve got right now—that I really like him.”

she has fully accepted that she straight up likes him and we’re not even halfway through the book 😑 is the rest of the story just gonna drag for no reason? 🫥

“He kisses the back of my hand. It’s the smallest pressure, the softest touch, but it wrecks me completely.
No one is around to see him do this.
It’s not for show.
It’s just for us.
It’s just for me.”

Noah is soooo sweet! I’m so sad I don’t feel anything about them 😭💔

“That she feels this tug between us that constantly draws me to her—has done since the very first day I saw her.”

WELP he just admitted it was insta love 😪

They’re so sweet and tender, which is exactly what i LOVE!!! But i just CAN’T bring myself to care about them bc their bond wasn’t very well developed, imo 😭💔

I like that they’re very protective of each other but it just doesn’t make sense for them to be like this when they’re not even *that* close yet :/

they literally JUST started fake dating and both are already suuuper into the other person… 🙄 bro this is boringggggg if they’re both already crushing on each other! 😒😪🥱

it took more than 1/3 of the book for the fake dating to start… 🫤😵‍💫

« I know most people have already had their first kiss by now, but it’s never been anything that interested me that much. I’ve always been too focused on school to think about a relationship.
“It’s not a big deal to me,” I shrug, “I don’t think I’ve ever liked anyone enough before to do it.” »

he’s just like me fr

She’s got feelings for him… He’s got feelings for her… Is this whole book just gonna be them hiding the feelings they somehow harboured while they were still strangers until they can finally share how they’ve felt since they met (aka finally reveal their instant crush)?? 🧐🫤

Fake dating is always silly, but the reasons in this book are especially flimsy. On Izzy’s side, she’s hoping her ex will leave her alone if she’s dating someone else (he’s already proven to be unreasonable, so idk). Noah just straight up says that *perhaps* ppl might stop spreading rumours about him, and “he’s got nothing to lose”… Okay then.

she just said that she and Noah are barely even friends at this point, and 5 minutes later she’s imagining he’s the person she comes home to in the future…… for fuck’s sake

“Apart from yesterday, our conversations have been focused on school,”

she acknowledges they don’t really talk to each other and yet the author still wants me to be invested in the feelings they somehow already have towards each other???? 🫥🫥🫥

booooo they’re holding hands before they’re even FRIENDS ughhh

Ryan is just absurd omg. The book acknowledges it, but he’s *cartoonishly* dumb and mean.

“He hooks his pinky into mine and I stop in my tracks, my heart racing.”

???????? Literally WHY is he doing that ??????? 🤨🤨🤨 Y’all barely even TALK at this point!!!!! Ughhhh relationship development is truly a lost art. Why are authors so eager to move into the romantic stuff without establishing anything beforehand? 🙄😒🥱

She noticed he felt nervous talking about his old school so she shifted the conversation. That’s considerate on her part.

“It’s strange. I’ve never thought about a girl this much before. It makes my stomach feel weird.”

ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. you’re literally still STRANGERS!!!!! godddd i HATE insta love! like, why does he feel so differently about this 1 person specifically when they don’t even know each other?? 😒🙄

I think it’s safe to say that this is an instant crush, and not actually a slow burn. 🥲

UGHHH NOOOOO this is such a pet peeve of mine!! I HATE when STRANGERS in books touch for a second and immediately feel ~sparks~ 🙄. You DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER!!!! Also, y’all are wearing clothes; you didn’t even touch skin to skin. 😒 It’s giving insta love… Please say sike 😖.

Okay girl. You JUST met him and you’ve already mentioned the fact that he looks sad like 10 times. Chill out.

“Isaac has been passionate about animation for as long as I can remember. But I don’t have anything like that. The idea of going to school for another three years to study something I don’t care about sounds like the worst thing ever.”

MEEEE! I also struggled a LOT to choose a path after school! Even to this day, I’m not THAT passionate about anything, tbh (even tho I’m literally getting a masters lol)

The book starts with the character from book 1 talking about proposing…. yawnnn. 😴 You’re 21 and have been dating for only like 3-4 years… Y’all should be at the club! 😫

spoiler // “You were looking for your bride this whole time, and you had the nerve to suggest I return to Panchaia with you both? Like some kind of mistress?”

I know this is supposed to be serious but i just find it kinda funny ahhahaha like damn boy

spoiler // “the person he’d had in his company this entire time, was the numenborn for whom he had been searching.”

well, okay

Misho’s name is Mixcoat….????? dude…… what is that name?? 💀😭