thank you to viking books for young readers and penguin teen for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
in the synposis of this book it thank you to viking books for young readers and penguin teen for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
in the synposis of this book it’s comparable books are young royals and red, white, & royal blue. both media pieces that i’ve consumed and absolutely adore. and while i totally see the comparison to these two titles, unfortunately i did not fall into complete love with prince of the palisades as i had with it’s comp titles.
unfortunately, for me, i felt that the relationship moved quite quickly and felt a bit under developed. i wish we had more of a chance to see jadon and reiss experience each other in their high school life, through theater, through classes before throwing the plot straight back to jadon’s responsibilities as a prince. not just their relationship but also the whole story felt so rushed. and maybe that’s on me for listening to the story on 2.5x speed in one sitting while doing busy work. but i listen to all my books on that that speed and normally i’m not feeling like i’m missing pivotal bonding moments in the romances. but from what we did have, i loved it. i found jadon and reiss to be a lovely little couple and i actually could see them working out in the long term, even with the bumps they had throughout the story.
i never want to say this about a queer romance, especially one by an author of color, but it felt so commercial?? i know it’s a YA book but the conflict and its’ resolution definitely felt a like a bow being tied on a christmas present. it was such a quick and nonchalant ending. i guess i was wishing for more pining? more angst?? who knows.
overall this was sweet and short. i honestly find this like a holiday-adjacent (hallmark if you will?) romance. and i definitely see the place it has and can absolutely appreciate the story for what it brought. still hoping for more of a win from julian winters on a personal level!...more
thank you for penguin teen and gp putnam's sons books for young readers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
this was easily my thank you for penguin teen and gp putnam's sons books for young readers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
this was easily my favorite jennifer dugan yet. from the art style to the story i really did enjoy the story overall. while this was short and sweet it truly packed a punch as i teared up a few times followings tessa's story. i think this graphic novel is a great metaphor for dealing with mental illness, specifically depression, while giving it a quirky supernational spin and explanation.
tessa goes from a tough time, grieving the loss of her father and feeling like a misfit to growing more into herself and finding her people so to speak. it was a beautiful little story and makes me feel redeemed and excited to try again with dugan's graphic novels in the future after not being so successful in the past....more
thank you to penguin teen for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
i personally don’t want to make this review too long be thank you to penguin teen for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
i personally don’t want to make this review too long because i’ve already discussed a lot of my issues with this duology as a whole in my review for the first book, chaos & flame, found here. but let’s just say a lot of my issues with the disability rep and the romance and even the world-building stay the same, if not are amplified more in the sequel.
however, i think overall, the premise of the second book is MUCH stronger than the first one. i was worried about how things were going to fall out after the ending events, which did have me pretty piqued. and i think the sequel an incredible job following the aftermath of the first book. the lore of the world became so so much more interesting to me, especially since we had some more insight into aurora’s story (but unfortunately not much into her motives). the concept of the regent ephemerals was an incredible addition to the world’s political and foundational background.
did this additional also make darling even more of a chose one. absolutely. that’s where i struggled to separate the fact that her disability was ultimately shown as a superpower, especially since it was kind of, sort of, even more so in the second book. in this book, we learn that her blindness is essentially magic itself. and she is the only one who can repair it. so… still not really ideal in my book.
lets just put it this way, if you liked the concept of the first book and can put aside any issues with insta-love and poorly done disability rep then i definitely think you will like the second book even more. in my opinion it had a lot more going for it, despite the flaws from the first book carrying over. i really do implore you to read the review i wrote for the first book if you’re curious about my thoughts in more full. this isn’t much more i could’ve add about this book that i hadn’t touched upon there besides that i liked the world building much more in finale....more
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