Reviews and Comments

von einem Kater und einem Raben, die es mit vereinten Kräften schaffen, einem bösen Laborzauberer und einer Geldhexe das Handwerk zu legen und dabei Frieden, Gesundheit und Wohlfahrt für die ganze Welt zu schaffen. Alle vier Hauptcharaktere wachsen einem dabei ans Herz, auch die beiden Bösen, sodass ihr Schicksal fast schon traurig ist. Der Humor ist 1a und wholesome, gerne wieder.

Kindheitserinnerungen \o/ Damals lief das immer als Fernsehserie auf Kika, und die Titelmelodie war so catchy, ich warte noch darauf dass das wer fürn Popsong klaut :D

It's been a while since I read this book, but every time I see it on the shelf, I still think about it. And I think this is a sign of quality. Of course, it features a wlw romance plot, and yes, the girls do get each other.

It's still not a light-hearted fun story. Main char gets evicted from her home. People are killed. People commit actions they really damn regret. “She's a girl on the edge”, heck yes she is.

Content warnings before you start reading: homicide, stalking, parental abuse

... be prepared to make a checklist, because The Falling in Love Montage is full of references to all of them! Some explicit, some not, but certainly all on purpose. And I love the humour, and specifically Saoirse's "mortal enemies" - Oliver the Sex God who always misses his own parties; Beth the Evil Queen who steals Saoirse's father's heart (and mine); and Super Barbara, with her emergency sewing toolbelt, and her heroic entrance with smoke and background music.

Well, on the other hand, it's not entirely light-hearted: the other big topic in the book is early-onset dementia - both in family members, but also in the main chars own future. A topic to be confronted.

Somehow the coolest people in this book are the ones the main character hates 🧐 Girl, get a grip and choose the right friends!

In the beginning I thought this book was simply amazing. The story consists of three parts that could each stand on their own, with great ideas. With big life-changing events separating the parts. Some original mythology. And an absolutely enchanting writing style.

But then again, this is not just a romance story, but also a war story. With war logic, war values and war events, inspired by WW1. And I really don't understand why people like to fill their leasure time and literature with such horrible stuff. Yes daddy, there's nothing more romantic than trenches full of bodies, and then the sudden introduction of chemical weapons.

Nonetheless, it could still have been a great book if the author had chosen the easy way of writing a predictable happy end. Instead she chose one you just cannot predict, not even in your wildest phantasies, not even after reading this review. And there will be a sequel, which won't be as good. The best parts are already told.

Edit: Also, this book is so straight. So He-must-be-the-one-protecting-Her straight. Literally no-sex-before-marriage straight. Not even the one queer couple in Avalon Bluff can fix this.

I don't care if Monday's blue Tuesday's gray and Wednesday too Thursday I don't care about you It's Friday, I'm in love

A light read, full of classic rom-com tropes and matchmaking schemes. Not deep, but definitely entertaining. Also, it's bi of course.

This book actually consists of many little stories, and all of them are so trans, i feel seen. One of the stories is in the foreground, stretched over the entire book, while the others are told as anecdotes from the characters' past. I liked many things in the book. But it is a slow read, nothing to consume in one weekend.

Darcy really is just my kind of disaster bisexual, and she has a transfem sister who is just precious <3 When reading the promo summaries, I immediately assumed she'd get the girl in the end, but this ending is just as glorious. All thumbs up!

Every time I had plausible ideas about who the murderer might be, i had to stop myself because there were still so many pages left. There was no lack of tension.

One point deduction because a girl went back to the guy who literally hunted her, and who is suddenly portrayed as a hero and saviour. The straights really aren't okay.

This book is full of puns, full of delicious baking goods, and full of wonderful people with character development during the story. And there isn't a single person-walks-into-wrong-situation-and-jumps-into-conclusions plot antipattern, the queen of YA WLW romance doesn't need that.

What I liked: All the Armenian culture references, and the proverbs at the beginning of each chapter! That's so cool!

What I found boring: The tension curve is missing. The romance story is pretty straightforward, step by step without fallbacks, and at about 50% they're a couple and I asked myself "the story is already over, why are there so many more pages, oh no, please don't do a person-jumps-into-wrong-situation-and-jumps-to-conclusions" and well, what followed was a person-jumps-into-wrong-situation-and-jumps-to-conclusions.

... and it's the best thing about the book. There's not really a classic tension arc. The book consists of three smaller stories, in different years, slightly interwoven. But the cool thing is not really the three major stories. It's how every single side character has some kind of backstory, smaller or larger, and Colson Whitehead tells you about all of them, sometimes leading to several nested layers of time in the narration. Those little ones are the stories that really make this book a great read.

Very entertaining romcom story where two absolutely gorgeous women get to dump their constantly lying douchebag ex on public television, while head-over-heals falling for each other. The book kept me up all night and didn't let me sleep. Another plus: The author invented a conlang for this (Chalonian). Minus: It's not used very much, and probably it's not designed out that well.