sarah2438's reviews
1046 reviews

I think this had a really strong start. I wish that we had stayed with the setting that we had for chapter one, instead of doing a time jump into the 2020 pandemic. The emails were cute but it made for a weaker story. A common theme in this book is having good thing going and then pushing it too much. It was cheesey/cutesy but took that too far and became cringe. Our FMC was strong and independent but took that too far and became a bitch for no reason. The humor was taken too far and became forced and cringe like bad stand-up. The formatting was a bit odd as well-- it felt like the author was experimenting with some things that didn't entirely work for me and there was a lot going on-- divided into 3 chapters, chapter 1 divided into different times of day, chapter 2 being just emails, and chapter 3 being the closest to what I would consider normal.
Overall, this certainly had potential to do something cool and different, but it was just mid.

One day I will finish a NetGalley ARC before it's published.
But today is not that day.
I can totally see where the comparison to Addie LaRue is coming from, but I think that sets expectations REALLY high here, and the emotional impact did not hit for me-- which is the biggest part of Addie in my mind. The idea that our MC is only temporary, that she must lose so many people over and over, just felt detached in this one. I also just didn't quite understand the resolution here, making the ending feel really unsatisfying. But at the same time, the writing was beautiful and there were times that I got really into it. And just speaking realistically I think that the fact that I've been in a reading slump is affecting my attitude about this book; I was not in the mood to pick it up, but the ARC expires in 4 days. So this was all very much a mixed bag for me that was definitely influenced by my mood and it balances out to 3 stars.
Big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

This story is intended to be a thriller with the emotional impact of reflecting on a damaged relationship with a parent. In theory, I like this plot and would have liked to see that contrast. I'll admit they had me going for a minute there-- I was buying into it for the first hundred pages or so. But once Jay got swallowed by the whale, I saw how shallowly thought-out this whole book really is. It's entirely dependent on the shock value of gore and violence that occurs within the whale. (I probably should have seen that coming given the plot summary, but I didn't expect it to be so graphic and it was very offputting.) The shock value is contrasted with Jay's scattered and utterly banal flashbacks. They carried absolutely no emotional impact but were presented as if they were revealing some deep truth. As we get closer to the end, Jay's experience inside the whale becomes borderline incomprehensible and his introspection about the relationship with his father remains completely surface-level but is depicted as being grand revelation. I was team whale on this one.

I had a fun time with it but I'm in a bit of a reading slump so I don't have much else to say. It didn't stand out as being particularly brilliant but I know part of that is the slump and just feeling mid about everything.

I binge-read the audiobook because I was supposed to go to the author's talk the next day but the book turned out to be very mid so I skipped the talk. Writing was nice but characters felt underdeveloped and it's ironic to try to write a story focusing on the lives of women but their lives center around trying to find a fuckboy from generations past. (Obviously I'm simplifying this a lot, but the point still stands.) Anyway, glad I read it but I think I'll forget it soon.

Devastating and beautiful, obviously.

Pretty writing sometimes but I was distracted by how much these people suck. Oh my god I hated the main characters so much.

A fun coming of age story but ultimately not really a standout.

I went into this pretty much blind, as I tend to do with books once I add them to my list. I liked that this book examined the mental ramifications of war even more than the physical, while still using period-appropriate language and diagnoses. (It's clear that Arden put in a lot of research on that front.) And while the story was overall very dark and depressing, we do end with a semblance of hope. I usually struggle to get into historical fiction, and this one was no exception, but the audiobook was a great help.  I can't exactly put my finger on what was missing, but this didn't quite reach 5 stars for me. Regardless, I fully recommend. This has me looking forward to The Winternight Trilogy, the first book of which has been sitting on my shelves for years now.

Big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I truly don't get the hype here??? Is it because I listened to it as an audiobook versus reading it? It seems like the people that love it are die-hard fans but I can't for the life of me understand why. There is no plot and that would be fine if the vibes were good but they're sub-par. Every once in a while there'd be a line that mad me go "ooh!" and get intrigued. And then there would be a moment like this: “Did they hurt you?” “Who?” “Everyone.” “Yes.” And I just couldn't deal with it. We hear about all this power they have and how they're all learning so much, but we rarely see any of that. There was so much potential here that's just been wasted.