Wonderland Reader

Kilt Trip   by Alexandra Kiley Published: 23rd May 2024 by Zaffre I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I'm really not sure how I feel about this book - it almost feels as if completely split into two separate halves, with my wildly different levels of interest on either side. I was completely gripped in the beginning by the premise of this, and the whole enemies-to-lovers thing that Addie and Logan had going on, but I just didn't fully believe in the build-up to their romance, or much of anything that came after. The switch from hating each other to feeling anything more didn't convince me, and my interest seemed to slowly wane after the beginning of their relationship, when normally it would be at its peak. I didn't find the writing hugely compelling, but it wasn't bad at all! I think the pacing just felt off to me, and the characterisation of the primary and secondary people wasn't at its stronges...

The Rule Book   by Sarah Adams Published: 2nd April 2024 by Headline Eternal I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. This book was so much fun! I would call myself a huge Sarah Adams at this point, as this is the 3rd book of hers I have read, and they have yet to be a disappointment. I absolutely adored her When in Rome duology (and secretly wish for more!), and so despite the fact that I haven't read The Cheat Sheet , which this is set in the same world as, I knew I'd enjoy it regardless. I always enjoy a good sports romance, but I didn't even mind that this hardly featured any playing, as the chemistry between Nora and Derek was so palpable that I didn't want to be distracted by any sub-plots. You could tell that they truly cared for one another, and just wanted the best for them, no matter what that looked like. I also really enjoyed the interactions between Derek and his friendship group, and the little gl...

Second First Impressions  by Sally Thorne Published: 7th April 2022 by Piatkus I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I feel like Sally Thorne is a huge name in the romance genre, so I was excited to finally be picking up one of her books, and for the most part, I was not disappointed! I really enjoyed the writing style of this, and although I couldn't hugely relate to Ruthie's personality, that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book at all, which I actually think is a huge testament to Thorne as an author, because I feel like this is hard to achieve. I thought the little community that Ruthie found herself in, with the two sisters, and her coworker, to be very endearing, and exactly what she needed. I did find the back and forth between Ruthie and Teddy to be too much at times, and once again, their huge blowout fight towards the end did just feel a bit ridiculous, but it didn't really take away from...

An Education in Malice   by S.T. Gibson Published: 15th February 2024 by Orbit I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. While not a superfan of the genre, I do enjoy a dark academia tale when it is done well, and I was hoping that An Education in Malice would be that for me. The premise of an intimate circle of female students in a small-town university interested me, but the story took a turn from this, and became much more focused on Laura and Carmilla, and their teacher De LaFontaine. The vampire twist to this story wasn't wholly unwelcome, but I didn't think it brought anything particularly new to that genre - it was mainly used as a vessel for the various love stories, and I did think it could be used for much more than that. I didn't love how Gibson introduced the older vampire's lover to the story as the main threat, and then proceeded to hardly have her in the book after that.  The writing in this wasn...

Yolk   by Mary H.K. Choi Published: 4th March 2021 by Atom I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I have heard great things about Choi's works, that they are introspective, and portray relationships in very realistic ways, and this is exactly what I found with  Yolk.  The sibling dynamic between Jayne and June was eerily relatable - the power struggle between older and younger sister, the resentment held towards their different experiences being raised by the same parents, but the overall underlying knowledge that both of them would do anything for the other, and that this is the most important relationship they have. Their closeness grows and wanes in equal measure, and their dependence on one another goes from virtually nonexistent to literally life or death, which I thought really forced the cracks in their childhood, and more recent years as young adults, to be examined and reckoned with. I certainly didn't...

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982   by Cho Nam-Joo Published: 1st March 2020 by Scribner I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I have had this book for going on 5 years now, and that just felt like far too long without having read it! I really liked the sound of this, as a fan of both speculative fiction and works by Korean authors, and this was not an exception. I loved the length of it, as I find books with minimal plots to be very interesting, but can easily drag if they go on for too long, which this didn't. It was very interesting getting to witness Kim Jiyoung in all the aspects of her life, from her role as a wife and mother, to being an employee, and a friend, and how she seemed to struggle, at least to an extent, in each of these parts. I really enjoyed the footnotes within the story, providing readers with real data to back up how Kim Jiyoung was feeling, particularly towards the discrepancies in life she experienced as ...