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[klyflipspages]

The Wolf Den

By Elodie Harper. 9/10

Date read: 1/10/14

Original Review:

Best book i’ve ever read. felt and related so much and god it was just so good i can’t even express. the relationships and characters are so complex and i feel like i can read it over and over again. i didn’t give it a 10/10 because they made it into a trilogy and i just wish it was a stand alone but the story was literally so heartbreaking and so good i never wanted it to end i loved it. ending was heartbreaking and it makes you think damn she is so different from who she was in the beginning of the book. LOVED IT

Updated Review:

Honestly, if i read this book now this review would have been PAGES long. i remember really loving this and being really excited to read the next book. I was so invested in the characters and i loved the historical aspects of it. The complex relationships between the girls and each of their stories were memorable and the pure aspect of survival and fear of women in this situation is so clearly communicated. The real life quotes and historical evidence found in Pompeii also added to the well researched and thoughtful feel the author added to this book. This book will 100% be getting a re-read in the future so i can go back and actually annotate it. I really wish i was in the habit of annotating when i read this because this would have been filled with different tabs and notes.

Cant wait to read the next ones :)

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The Hawthorne Legacy

By Jennifer Lynn Barnes. 2/10

Date Read: 1/3/24

Original Review:

BAD. SO BAD. there were so many random ass, useless ass plots in this book that the author tried to answer by just adding more family members. the romance was not only terrible but made NO SENSE. This book was such a clusterfuck i’m kinda mad that i wasted time reading it. will i read the last one? who knows, might skim through cuz this book was literally painful.

Updated Review:

Yea if i started reading this book now, i wouldn't. In the beginning of the year there was lots of pressure for me to finish every book no matter how much i wasn't enjoying myself but now i have less a tolerance for shitty books. I would not have wasted my time with this if i could go back.

This also really ruined the mystery genre for me for a while because this was kinda my re-entrance into reading mystery for the first time in a while.

so many people were hyping this up on tiktok i was so disappointed with this. sometimes even seeing the books on my shelf just make me mad. Maybe thats a sign i should just get rid of them 🤷🏻‍♀️

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It Starts With Us

By Colleen Hoover. 6/10

Date read: 1/14/24

Original Review:

thought it was much sweeter and easier to read, had me interested in both parts but I hate the letter writing format, thought it was boring and kinda a stretch honestly it made them not special cuz they would do it so often I was wondering why tf they wouldn’t just talk to each other. feel like the ending would’ve been more meaningful if they didn’t over use it. still read it, not as good, but easier.

Updated Review:

you can tell I wrote that in two minutes and I didn't expect anyone to read it lol. but yea I think the same. I don't remember much from these books anymore and that probably says lots about how much I enjoyed them. If I were to review this now it would probably have a much lower rating but its okay to let past kly enjoy it a little more.

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It Ends With Us

By Colleen Hoover. 5/10

Date read: 1/5/24

Original Review:

honestly triggering and super odd the way abuse is romanticized, I still kept reading because I was just shocked on how things escalated but also had to skip some parts that were just to much. felt out of touch.

Some notes for my first reviews:

I started the year doing a 10 scale rating and for consistency have kept it up BUT I will be sticking with 5 next year cuz it just makes more sense.

reviews started really short, being one or two sentences and have now turned into multiple pages. Its funny to see how much i've changed in that way.

Updated review:

Eh, still pretty much the same. A movie adaptation has come out since I first read this, and a lot of people are starting to realize the issues with Colleen Hoover’s work. But honestly, it feels like it’s just become trendy to hate her. I really wanted to read her books without the bias that so many people have, and I’ve found that most people who dislike her haven’t even read her work. If I’m going to form an opinion about a writer, I want it to be based on my own experience

Honestly this book wasn't that offensive to me but it also wasn't that great. People are mad that its triggering but I would hate to see those peoples reaction to any other influential books or writers like Stephen king for example, who writes about terrifying stuff like rape and abuse and real monsters but no-one tries to cancel him.

Idk I’m always hesitant to jump on the "I hate Colleen Hoover" bandwagon because theres lots of writers out there that have done much worse and people are just listening to whatever people on tiktok tell them to think when it comes to books. She's definitely wrote some sus stuff but I still don't see why its become such a trend to hate a writer.

Looking back at my initial review, I can see now that I was just regurgitating what I’d heard from others. I’ve also been in an abusive relationship in the past, so yeah, it was triggering and difficult to read.

Okay, rant over. And if you genuinely dislike Colleen Hoover and have actually read her books, then great—I didn’t really like them either.

[klyflipspages]

Helloo:)

Yay my first post!

SO, I've been doing a lot of reading this year, and after finishing each book, I write a long review. Unfortunately, those reviews just get buried in my notes app and only my husband witnesses the aftermath of my book rants. (He loves hearing about my books, but I do feel a bit bad for putting him through it sometimes!)

As this document of book reviews grows larger I wanted a place to organize my thoughts and share them.

The year is almost over but i'm going to be individually posting all of my reviews anyways. I think it'll be fun to look back on and let my whole year of reading out of its prison (my head).

These reviews are meant to be super unprofessional and just my unfiltered thoughts, so I'm gonna be really chill and have fun with them.

Plus, going back to the beginning of the year, looking over my reviews, reflecting on how my thoughts may have changed, and revisiting the feelings those books gave me will be like a personal "Spotify Wrapped" for my reading journey.

OKAY BYE! time to start:)