Reviews and Comments

... aber statt anderen Geschenke zu besorgen, erledigst du ihren Mord für sie - und dafür kümmert sich jemand anderes um deinen. Und so gerätst du niemals in Verdacht, weil Motiv und Gelegenheit nie übereinstimmen. Was kann da nur schieflaufen? Jedenfalls war es verdammt schwer, dieses Buch zwischendurch auch mal aus der Hand zu legen um zu schlafen...

This is a funny concept: The chapters play in two parallel timelines - one where Natalya stays in New York, and one where she goes to Los Angeles for the summer. The subtitle is "There's more than one path to happily ever after", and that's exactly what the book represents. However, both timelines are a little too straightforward, and seen individually, they wouldn't make an interesting story. It really is this multi-timeline-drifting approach that makes it an entertaining book.

This is a sentence from the Acknowledgements, and I'm glad she acknowledges it. Because, twin hells, you have been incredibly mean to your characters. And that made the book really hard to enjoy, unlike its predecessor, even if it's written in the same spirit. In Eris's words: « Absolutely rot ».

What is wrong with people, none of this makes sense

Well, if you haven't guessed yet, this book is themed around piloted mecha suits. This is so not my theme. But it's also a rom-com, so who cares.

I really liked the writing style, hence all the quotes! I can't even imagine how much time and effort the author must have spent on each paragraph, to chose the exactly right words and effects, each page like a poem. I also liked how the gearbreakers seem and act like one big polycule.

And a plus point for all the parallels to She-Ra and the Princesses of Power! (it literally starts with Sona fighting against automatic training bots, on Hord..err..Godolia territory, which she then turns against)

The good part: This entire scenario is incredibly sick (yes, hahaha, YES). Fucking your best friend's mom? Fucking your daughter's best friend? Oh boy, this could be a riot.

The bad part: It's a very very slow burn. You'd expect a buildup, then drama when the daughter/friend finds out, then reconciliation. Instead, it's 300 pages of sex, secret dates and a good old relationship escalator (of course, marriage is just what this story needs 🥴). At some point it really got boring. If you really wanted this story, make it shorter. And scrap the epilogue.

of One of Us is Lying. In case you're wondering, this has nothing to do with the second season of the TV series, it's a completely different story.

I've read better books. But it's relatively okay.

I liked it, but I already liked the TV series, so I knew what to expect. Now I can compare!

Things I liked better in the book: There is no omnipotent, omniscient being as in the series. Everyone just knows what they see and hear about, and works with mundane methods. Also, Luis, Ashton and Eli are amazing extra characters! Also, yes, Simon is definitely a channer.

Things I liked better in the TV series: How the entire situation came to happen. Jake's role, Simon's, and most of all, Janae's! Also, the entire ending. That version is just way more satisfying.

Better than I'm used to with straight romance. There are plotholes (why did the white snake comply and tell them how to undo its actions??), but the story is interesting and funny. Its nature is pretty episodic though, and many of the places in the liminal world are described very graphically - so I can't stop thinking it would make a great cartoon series! Add a few more steps and details, and voila, here's 50 episodes about the quest to find the antivenom ouroboros!

Side fact: The book is dedicated to Rebecca Ross, another author, and indeed many elements reminded me of "Divine Rivals": The 1900 nostalgia (+/- 20 years). Ladies being courted by Gentlemen. Discussions about what is proper. No dating before marriage. Soldiers are sexy. Male family members decide freely over their sisters'/nieces' lives. Strong women falling in love with shitheads of disputable integrity, who are still portrayed as desireable and romantic etc. No, the straights are not okay.

I'm not really sure what to think of this. It's all so inconsequent. For context, this book plays in colonized Egypt, in the year 1884. And the two character alignments are: good archeologists who want to preserve everything and thus have to keep it secret so future Egyptians can learn about it - and the bad people who sell everything they get their hands on. So this is superficially anti-colonialist, yet all the relevant people are Englishmen, Frenchmen or Argentinians. Only two Egyptians in the book have names, and they're entirely replaceable, with no plot relevance and no agency.

And the "evil" side who's illegally trading artifacts is so flat, not even the motivations make sense (if it's money then why did Lourdes risk losing her giant fortune to Ricardo???)

Also it's pretty funny how all the conversations in this book are in English, French or Spanish, even though it's fucking EGYPT

Is this really a romance plot between Inez and WHITFORD??? The alcoholic who's locking her up all the time, and threatening strangers with violence? Are the straights okay???

You know I always love fake dating stories. But this one is a particularly good implementation of it. Cheers to this bunch of bisexual disasters!