This book was a very beautiful read, but I must say that it didn't grab me the same way that the Wicker King did. I thought that the development between Alexandria's and Ryann's relationship seemed a little off to me. Neither seemed to actually like each other as I read the book even though they did? Maybe it was just their being awkward around one another, but I honestly couldn't see it until toward the end of the book. Overall I enjoyed the story Kayla wrote and cannot wait to see what she writes next. ( )

I had this sitting on my Kindle for a good few months and I can't believe I just only read it. I loved the entirety of this book. From the simple yet beautiful writing which made me want to continue reading at the end of each chapter to the fleshed out characters and world building. I do not have any faults for this book and it's definitely one of the best I've read this year. I'm not going to give away much because reading this with the bare minimum context allowed me to fully immerse in the beautiful world that K.Ancrum had crafted. The slow burn was perfectly paced and it was nice that the romance wasn't exactly the main plot of everything but played a large part in the story. The ending was also great. I didn't expect it to go that way and I'm glad that the two main characters were able to break the chain that made them friends in the first place. ( )

DNFing this one at the halfway point. I am definitely not the target audience for this particular book and I'm having a hard time suspending my sense of disbelief. I enjoy the writing style and I'm pretty certain that as a young high schooler, I would have fallen for this book hard, the angst is intense, the emotions run high, and the situations would have captured my imagination. Sadly, as an adult, I can't help wondering where the parents are and why on earth is no one more concerned about the number of school absences these students must have...ah, adulthood :/

4.5 star rating.

Well if I didn't know it after reading The Wicker King (and basically declaring it my favourite book of 2018) then I sure know it now: K. Ancrum is a genius. This book is somehow devastating yet hopeful and filled with such kindness, just as The Wicker King was. Kayla has this incredible talent for ripping out your heart then making you thank her for doing it. She packs so much emotion into her stories and characters and somehow makes it all the more powerful once you've turned the last page and read her authors note (which similarly to TWK made me cry goddammit). I really do believe Kayla Ancrum is one of the most promising new authors in YA fiction at the moment, and I will read literally anything she writes from now on. Thank you Queen🙌

P.S. That Wicker King reference... I SEE YOU, and I'm emotional

Trigger warning: attempted sexual assault ( )

Ok, so here's my first attempt at an actual review lol... This was a buddy read with the Dragons & Tea club, so it's not something I usually would've picked up but WOW I ended up enjoying that a lot more than I thought.

"Fighting for yourself is another way of loving yourself."

First off, the main siblings, Ryann and James. I freaking loved them. The amount of times that they made my heart melt, like... wow. Their situation is so sad but they are handling everything so damn well! My babies! Ryann is a tall, butch muscular girl with a bigass heart. James is the sweetest, most supportive brother. And they deserve the world.

The characters are probably my favorite part of the book. They took a little bit of time to develop but by the end, I loved every one of them. Their little gang, and the parents and even the teacher. There was also some proper Poly rep which was amazing to see.

The short chapters made the time really fly by. This book is a slow burn. There is no instalove. It takes time for Ryann and Alexandria to open up to each other. And when they did... Well, Imma be honest, it was a little too cheesy for me but it was adorable!

It's a contemporary book, so by the end, some of the plot twists were a little predictable but there are a few chapters where we got to read Alexandria's mom's transcripts from space that more than made up for that. Seriously, my eyes watered. ( )