booknerderika's reviews
663 reviews

This was a sweet story. I am a sucker for enemies to lovers so I knew I would enjoy this. It ended up being more than a romance though with so many other things happening for the characters and side characters. The pacing was slower than I expected but I enjoyed the way everything tied together in the end. 

The title made me think that Duchess would play a larger role in the book but I feel like we got more scenes with Puddin' than anything. 

Ali Hazelwood has won me over again! 

I hope that ending means there will be a part 2! 

This book is going to ruffle feathers in all the best ways! 

I am a proud reader of banned books and stand behind the message that reading should not be censored. 

I felt so many emotions while reading this story from anger and frustration to hope and sympathy. I loved how many banned books were referenced and quoted in this as well as references to real life events around the nation. The characters were believable and while I hoped there would be more change in some of them, this story stayed true to reality in the way that not everyone can change. 

The way that Noor treated her mother made me mad, but the more I thought about it, I probably would've been on Noor's side had I read this as a teenager. I loved the development of their relationship as the story progressed. You could see the pain they felt and how they were slowly learning to heal. 

As for the romance side of this story, I thought it was weird

how Faiz smelled like Noor's dad and triggered her but then she ended up choosing to be with him. It would've been better if he didn't remind her of her dad at all. I understand that it was to show how she was healing but I wish they wouldn't have compared her love interest to her father. 

I'm also glad that she held her ground when it came to Andrew because that is a lesson I think a lot of teenagers (and some adults as well) need to learn. 

Overall, I felt a roller coaster of emotions while reading this book and for that, it gets a high rating from me. 

I enjoyed this book and getting to know these characters. I didn't read anything about the book going in so I was happily surprised when I learned that the FMC was autistic. I found a lot of similarities that I could relate to with her. I'm not a fan of miscommunication tropes and 3rd act breakups, especially with how direct Stella was being it made me frustrated. 

I received an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I love this series and this book made me so happy!! Out of all the Luna sisters, I feel that I can relate the most to Isabel. Not only because I'm also the middle sister but because I'm also the darkest of my sisters and the bookish one who hates social settings. I loved every moment of this story and that ending had me kicking my feet with glee. I can't wait for this book to be released so I can get a physical copy to read again. 

This was an informative and research-based book. I liked that the people who were interviewed came from varying backgrounds and locations. Since Autism is different for every person, I believe it is important that books covering autism have different perspectives. This was very much a book about shared experiences, but it also had information pulled from studies and other research which I enjoyed. 

This was a sweet rom-com and had me smiling throughout. There were some tropes I could do without (

3rd act breakup

), but aside from that it was a decent story. I don't have too much to say, I read this right after some heavy books so it was a much needed refreshing fun read. 

Etaf Rum has done it again, I sobbed like a baby with this book! 😭

This was so beautifully written and I slowly became bonded to these women which made some scenes so much harder to read through. Including the different perspectives really showed the way that trauma can show up differently for everyone. I also liked how we slowly unraveled the story of what really happened by piecing together everyone's memories and stories. I was absolutely devastated when I read the scene with the newspaper article and again at the end because I knew what was going to come from that decision. 

Rum also found a way to elegantly weave in the struggles of the Palestinian people back in Palestine so that readers could understand that even with all the struggles the characters faced in the U.S. it was still nothing compared to the struggles of losing their land and homes. 

Review pending