This was a totally spur of the moment pick up for me. I’ve still been feeling a little funky in terms of my reading so I’ve been picking up a lot of romance to try to remedy that because its just so easy and entertaining to read. So when I saw a few different reviews for this book pop up in some recent booktube videos I decided to give it a go and actually loved it!
We follow the story of Jasmine who is a hardcore figure skater who was recently dumped by her skating partner. She hasn’t been able to find a new partner since so she is unable to compete. She has been training at the same complex as Ivan Lukov who is the reigning national champion, a 2 time gold medalist and is known as being the best figure skater in the world at the moment. Jasmine and Ivan cannot stand each other and since Ivan’s partner has bowed out for the season Jasmine is the only one good enough to step up.
The hate to love trope is my absolute favourite in romance novels and this book did so well in building up the sexual tension throughout the course of the storyline. The chemistry between these two from the start was palpable and I loved that it delved a lot more deeper into their backgrounds than what I was anticipating.
Jasmine’s candour really pulled me into the book. There’s just something about characters swearing in books that really endears me to them (lol). I just feel like that’s exactly how I would react in the same situation. As someone who swears a lot it make the book feel more realistic to me, which made me appreciate the story even more. I liked the fact that she is really trying to balance her life and not just have it be all about skating. The gradual arc of her character was very well done and she really had to overcome a lot of situations before she could really accept herself. I especially liked that she noticed how she has treated her family in the past and has tried to rectify the situation by being more involved and aware of everyone and their feelings.
Ivan at the start I thought was a little too good to be true being handsome, rich and the best figure skater in the world. I think his cocky attitude mixed with all the hard work we see him put in to being the best helped to ease my concerns about him as a character. Once we started to learn more about him and penetrate that guard he always has up and see some of the more emotional scenes he has with Jasmine and he finally shows how much he cares about her is when I started to fall under his spell! OMG after he made that speech to Jasmine’s father I was sold!
I highly enjoyed my read of this book. I think I picked it up at exactly the right time and I think it definitely helped me get around this slumpy feeling I’ve been having! I was totally surprised by how much I enjoyed this book and it just left me with some happy feels!
⭐️5/5 stars Caught me by surprise and made me shed a tear!
Cute!
I decided instead of doing individual reviews for each book I would combine them all and do a series review! I was immediately sucked in to this series and the storyline and the characters. I started the first book on a Friday and by the next Tuesday I had completed the series, I was that invested!
It was nice to have a different perspective on the whole vampire genre. It is usually quite straightforward from what I’ve read in the past in terms of their powers and how they are turned etc. The fact that Richelle Mead created something that was so different and unique really captured my attention straight away. Having the three species of vampires and having differing was that they are changed and how they reproduce added a lot of depth to the books.
The characters had the perfect amount of angst that I wasn’t too annoyed by. They weren’t the most complex cast of characters that I’ve read about but there was enough distinction between them that kept me eager to read on.
Rose didn’t really show any growth throughout the books in terms of her demeanour or attitude, she stayed pretty consistent throughout; though that didn’t really bother me because she brought a lot of unpredictability and entertainment to the storyline. She acted and reacted very true to her age and I appreciated that, she read as a 17 year old and that’s why I liked her so much.
Lissa’s storyline was very fascinating; it strayed a little too close to the political side of the story which doesn’t really engage me as much as the action. It was nice that the plot went so in depth with the Moroi royal families and their many layers of political manoeuvrings, but again I wasn’t all that interested in that side of the story. She was one character that we did see a change occur throughout the series. I found her to be a little bit pretentious and entitled in the first few books, but you really get a feel of how much she appreciated Rose and her friends in her rise.
As I was making my way through the series there was definitely times when I could predict exactly what was going to happen and usually that annoys me, but this time I was actually ok with it because it made sense. The progression between each book was purposeful and each book was easy to differentiate. Sometimes when I read a series quite quickly all of the books can kind of blend together and I can have trouble picking out which event happened in which book. With this I had no such trouble, I was invested enough that when I finished one book I wanted to immediately pick up the next and did. I can see now why so many people love and recommend this series; I just wish I had read it sooner!
I LOVED this book!
Little Fires Everywhere is about the Richardson family and how from the surface they look like the quintessential family but when you delve a little deeper it seems that looks aren’t everything.
Amy Leigh Reads 