soulofsam's reviews
98 reviews

it's 1am so my judgment is not at its best but I LOVED THIS BOOK

I enjoyed seeing all the characters grow so much and while I started out being annoyed by most of them I am entirely in love with the lot of them. I enjoyed the setting in history without being a historical retelling so much and I think it was a brilliant match between historical and modern vibes.
The end shocked me to the core and I shed tears and I was stressed and felt a million emotions. Which was actually a theme the whole book, it made me feel so much with and for and about the characters and story.
Lex is an amazing writer who makes it so easy to visualize what is happening and they write beautifully descriptive without being boring.
I am so glad the gang stayed together and we got the end we did and I will add to this review after a night of sleep.

It's a good debut novel.
I also realized I am probably not the target grou  becaus  I got severely annoyed at every single character at least one time. I love the set up of a movie competition and that it wasn't a picture perfect ending. The drama sometimes felt very artifical, rather than how people would normally react. They were so unreasonable and just plain stupid sometimes it made me role my eyes.
Yet I had a good time reading it, on my second try.

The last third or so of this destroyed me but also made me unable to put it down.
I read it perfectly timed, under the blazing hot summer sun just like in the book.
I truly loved it so much, a lot of this works so well do to Malindo Lo's very specific writing style. The characters felt fleshed out, visible and their struggles and lives felt real. I love that art, the book itself, focuses on other artists despite the main character being a science nut.

Despite the book starting off with Steph saying Joan has been unwell I never expected her passing. It definitely hit very close to home and I almost with there had been more elaboration on how this effects everyone.
While I in some way understan the conclusion of Steph and Arias relationship I wish it had been more satisfying. We saw Aria figuring it but in the future sneak peek it would have been fun to find out if her personal life had also developed the same way her career has flourished.

This was, a ride.
It is such a packed book, with the Quidditch Cup, Triwizard Tournament and Voldemort coming back all in one.
I thoroughly enjoyed how much characters were developed in this book, especially those we will get to know very differently now. I liked the emphasis on friendship and found family it gave and how you are not what you are born, but who you grow to be.
I did like some parts of the story more in the movie actually, but also some of my favourite moments only exist in the book. 
My main take away is how much this leaves you with anticipating excitement and worry for what's to come and that Harry DESPERATELY needs therapy.

This one is a fan favourite for a reason, it's brilliant.
I love this whole story so much and following the growth of Harry and Sirius. I love all the characters in this so much and learning more about the Mauraders, my favourite wild group of the franchise. Lupin is not only amongst my favourite characters but by far my favourite DADA teacher making this book a good one. I love how absolutely queer coded Remus and Sirius relationship is and you will have to pry this ship from my cold dead hands.
Listening to this, the enhanced version created by fans, almost made me cry in public more than one time.

This could have been a five star read but the ending fell extremely flat for me and was deeply unsatisfying.
I enjoyed the way the book mixed the story with nonfiction information about the real life situation. It was a very real and human take based around an interesting character and I liked following the story. I wish the last chapter would have explored her 'becoming' other people more after setting it up at the beginning. Sadly it went a direction I highly disliked and felt very unproductive after everything before.
Still would recommend it as it got me out of a reading slump!

hyperfixation ended lol

I liked this a surprising amount! I have to admit it took me longer to get into and to read, but I still enjoyed the details of the case immensely. The long breaks I took between reading didn't work in my favour as I kept forgetting who someone was and what their role in the case was, which made it hard to follow at times. So I am glad they offered somewhat of a recap at the end during the arrest.
I liked that there was a red herring and seeing the loyalty and lack thereof in people and sometimes unexpected ones at that. Seeing Nikki standing in for her believes, even going around the law to fight for what is right was beautiful.
The end was quite funny when you consider this as written by Richard Castle because he really had to give himself as Rook the most dramatic ending possible huh?

I devoured this!
So much happened and I've seeing how Nikki and Rook were finding their way back to each other. I enjoyed their little stints at domesticity, despite not being obviously committed to each other. Rook is very head over heels but for Nikki her love shines through in concern and knowing his patterns.
I also adored the case with all the twists and turns and how two cases ended up being one! I am surprised by the outcome because I definitely thought someone else at the center of it! I wish the end, after its wrapped up would be more elaborated on, both case wise and giving the characters more moments to settle with everything that has happened.

It took me the first about 80 pages to get into it but then I plowed through the last 120 within one day, barely putting it down.
It fits with the character of RC in season 1, always just slightly objectifying women and a bit full of himself. However once yoh acknowledge that and get into the style the mystery of the case is actually really nice. I kept trying to figure out who it is and until the very last second didn't see the reveal coming. I had pretty much everyone else in suspicious but the actual criminal. I liked the hopeful, freeing conclusion for Heat and Rook and that their personal relationship didn't actually play that major of a role. The steamy scene tha had Lanie "reaching for ice water" was disappointing, it was quite tame.
Ended up liking it much more than I expected to at the beginning!