4.75! Soooo good. A little long and repetitive, thats why I took off .25.

Definitely not Zapata's best work, but far from being her worst, with The Wall of Winnipeg and Me and Wait For It being her best and Lingus and Dear Aaron her worst, which isn't too bad, seeing as I rated both those books as 3's.

The one thing that truly got to me with this was just how clueless Luna was. The extent to which she goes to convince herself that Ripley doesn't care about her is just plain astonishing. Like hell, he starts calling her "baby girl" and cooking lunch for her every day and she's like, "This means nothing." She continues thinking this even after he kisses her.

That said, their chemistry was great, Zapata is still the queen of slow burn, everything is lovely. Can't wait to see what she dishes out next!

This was good, but it felt a lot like Under Locke and not the better version. I kind of felt that the conflict between the h and H was a bit overblown.

But still... I did melt a little (a lot) the first time he called her "baby" so I obviously bought in more than a little bit.

TDLR; not MZ's best but still pretty good

I adore this book!

I love how the author, Mariana Zapata describes trauma in this book. It is a sunshine x grumpy, but sunshine is very much an attitude and hope that Luna really works on having. She, in many ways, has a very childlike desperation for love, fear of being left, and in many ways avoids conflict and having to stand up for herself, all stemming from her childhood of abuse and neglect, and having to take care of everyone else first. She just wants someone to be there for her, like her for her, and not leave, because so many has decided she wasnt enough or for other reasons left or hurt her.

Zapata writes very realistic, because its not all happy endings. Dealing with people are hard, things damage relationships so they never can be what they were, and Zapata lets those things stay difficult and not fully resolved because that is real. I both love and hate that, I would love for everyone to overcome amd be happy and close again, but at the same time would that be so cheap when Zapata has spent so much time showing how these difficult relationships impact the characters, both as hurt and as growth.

Another strong book by Zapata, and despite the high page number, really didnt feel long, so never let that discourage you from picking up a book by her.

Every time Rip said “baby girl”

Luna and the Lie: ★ ★ ★ ★ . 7 5

Mariana Zapata

“You got that little fox on you, but you’re a wolf, baby. A fucking miracle.”

The slow burn queen has honestly ruined romance for me in the absolute best way. I don’t think anyone will ever do it for me anymore, because she is the standard.

Luna Allen has secrets hidden in her chest—about her family, her past, and what brought her to CCC, where she does paint jobs on cars. But despite the unbelievably rough past she’s had, she’s nothing but sweetness and sunshine in a human body. An absolute angel whose positivity was so potent and honestly made me rethink how I live my life because I need to be more like her.

There’s no doubt Mariana Zapata does grumpy/sunshine unlike anyone else in the entire world, but Lucas Ripley? The textbook example of grumpy. Like seriously. Oh my god.

Rip is so fucking hot I literally think I might collapse if I think about him for too long because holy— The protectiveness, the possessiveness, the sweet, sweet man that he is deep inside for Luna and only Luna. He cooks, he keeps his house clean, he won’t leave Luna alone when she’s afraid. He’s literally perfect.

Mariana Zapata served us some of the best groveling I’ve ever read. The way Rip would do anything to “get his goddamn Luna back” was just precious—the flowers, the cake, the donuts. And the one bed trope in this? Y’ALL. PLEASE. MY COLD DEAD HEART.

I’m not even kidding when I say every moment of physical contact and every dropped “baby girl” made my heart beat so fast and my face pull into the widest grin.

Luna & Rip have my whole entire heart. They are such a fortifying strength for one another and despite all the secrets, lies, and things that have broken them down in the past, they come together in the most beautiful way.

Mariana Zapata is consistently one of my favorite authors and there’s no way she’ll ever lose that throne. I am helplessly, wholeheartedly obsessed with her and every single bone in my body is devoted to her supremacy.