I loved the mystery behind Sunny's movie, I loved the roommates with benefits trope, and I loved watching Isaac come back from "the dead".DNF at 40%.
I loved the mystery behind Sunny's movie, I loved the roommates with benefits trope, and I loved watching Isaac come back from "the dead".
However, while I think the premise was super cute, and the steam was fantastic, I just did not enjoy the characters enough to continue with the story. I also felt like this was supposed to be an interconnected standalone, where you could not have read the earlier books and still had plenty of information about past characters given in this book to make sense, but that was not the case. Within a very short amount of time, there were about 10-15 characters introduced by name like I should have known them who I very much did not. There were also characters referenced throughout the portion of the book I read that I had no idea who they were or their significance. A refresher for those who have read it and a simple introduction for those picking this book up first would have gone a long way imo.
Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone for the opportunity read a copy of this book. The thoughts and opinions above are honest and my own. ...more
This was my first Ally Carter and it was pretty much exactly what I was looking for in a Christmas-time, mystery rom-com!
Here are some of the speciThis was my first Ally Carter and it was pretty much exactly what I was looking for in a Christmas-time, mystery rom-com!
Here are some of the specific things I really loved about this book: 1. The mystery was front and center, and it was a good one! I loved the mystery, I loved the twists and turns, and I loved watching two “enemies” work together to solve it knowing they were the only two people they could, begrudgingly, trust. I loved even more that I could not piece it together myself! I seriously had no clue and I’m usually pretty good at figuring out the ending quickly. Loved this challenge!
2. I loved Eleanor Ashley. From everything she represented to playing games until the very end, she was a fantastic character even with the little page time she got. I also adored her faith in Maggie and Ethan; especially in Maggie. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the bond these two women had when they didn’t even know each other was incredible!
3. Who doesn’t love a good enemies-to-lovers, especially set during Christmas time in England?? Absolute perfection!
4. I quite enjoyed the flirty banter and back and forth between Maggie and Ethan. The book was closed door spice, so definitely one I could see recommending and bonding over with my mother, which are always good options to have.
5. I loved how the house and estate were so large that we truly got to explore so many different places of it. The best part was all the “tricks” the mystery author implemented into the house to make it exactly how you would envision a mystery writer would: hidden safes, trap doors, secrets exits and rooms, etc. Super fun to explore these areas with our MCs.
6. I enjoyed the evolution of Maggie’s character and how much Ethan supported that journey. Maggie started as a meek woman who was gaslit for so long that she questioned her own sanity and ability to be right. However, in basically leading the charge on solving the mystery, we saw her come out of her insecurities more and more as time went on. Ethan had such a supportive role in this too, always encouraging her to keep going with her train of thoughts and telling her constantly that she wasn’t wrong or crazy.
I also really liked this line in the story:
“You know, if mankind has one universal superpower, it’s gaslighting women into thinking they’re the problem.”
And it was spoken by Maggie after she got her confidence back. Absolutely screamed “YOU ARE THE WOMAN!” when I read this.
7. Along with the above, there were so many other great lines in this book. Here are some of my favorites:
“I’m not offended that you’d accuse me of murder. I’m offended you’d think I’d be bad at it.”
--
Maggie started doing Party Math in her head.
If she hid for thirty minutes, then waved at three more people on her way to the elevator, maybe no one would notice if she spent the rest of the party hiding in an empty room, reading her Purse Book and eating her Napkin Cheese.
- I MEEEEEAN, are we the same person?!?!
--
Ethan: You know, some women think I’m chivalrous.
Maggie: Some women think the earth is flat.
--
“He needed you to be less than him, and you were always going to be more. There’s no way, no universe, no reality in which you aren’t the brightest star in the whole damn sky.”
- And this is when I fell for Ethan *swoon*
--
“If you were mine, I’d carry you through the storm. If you were mine, I’d fight the sky.”
Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Ally Carter for the opportunity to read a copy of this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own....more
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