Alyssa Steele > Recent Status Updates

“We are in the twilight years of a long love affair, and it has recently occurred to me that a day will come when one of us buries the other. But, I remind myself, that is the happy ending to a story like ours. It is a vow made and kept. Till death do us part. It is the only acceptable outcome to a long and happy marriage, and I am determined not to fear that day, whenever it arrives.”
I’m SOBBING😭

Fun Christmas listen, nothing too crazy but enjoyable

Interesting read. A lot of it talks about what we all already know by this point, but he brought up a few things I hadn’t learned about yet. Did this book make me more anxious because it feels ever more impossible to actually reverse and fix any of this? Possibly. But it’s a good reminder of what we can each do individually and in our own home at least.

I will read anything Alice Feeney writes. And to think I was convinced I had this one figured out…

“You were good, I’m waiting for you to be great” vibes. I enjoyed the first half more actually and then it just fell a bit flat for me. And *if* one part was meant to be a twist, some recent clinical experiences made me tune into it very early on. Liked the vibes, just needed more substance in the plot.

My least favorite of this “series” so far. I enjoyed starting at 50% to about 90% I’d say, but the beginning was slowww and I didn’t like parts of the ending either. I probably should’ve seen it coming though

If we are related and you’re seeing this, I don’t recommend this book.
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If we’re friends…. I do😅 the trials are SO intriguing!! I got nervous it was going to be too devil-ish for me but it lightens up! This was so unique, pulled me in bad, and the ending twist had my jaw DROPPED. The 🌶️ was much higher than my typical reads hence the above disclaimer so you’ve been warned

My favorite of the series so far!! I LOVED this one

Kristin Hannah has a way of making me sob like no one else does which is crazy considering I’ve never met her😭 went into this blind for book club, ended up ugly crying on my couch. I care so deeply about so many of these characters, and my emotions were (clearly) VERY involved in every change. I was angry, devastated, hurt, excited, proud, and now a bit empty. Excuse me as I blankly stare and contemplate life

I’ve never read about a more toxic group of friends/lovers/gang members/ all of the above😂 they are all sharing one brain cell but don’t communicate to even use it. This book draggedddd for me, I feel like you could pick either Magnolia or Daisy’s books but you don’t need both?

Not once in this book could I guess what was coming next👀 I really enjoyed this!!

I didn’t realize this is the same timeline/story as magnolia parks just from different povs… so I’m struggling with this one. Taking a break and I guess we’ll see if I pick it back up😅

I can’t believe this is over😕 the writing just pulls you into the world and I could’ve happily lived in it for so much longer!! I absolutely loved these books; the magic, the relationships, the cards, it’s all just so unique and powerful. I will be reading more Rachel Gillig !!! I cannot believe this series was her debut.

A little long, but in the end very important topics discussed. Palliative care is something I’ve really grown to feel strongly about the past couple of years, and this is a good reminder of why it’s so important. Written in a way that will appeal to medical and non medical people, but a good reminder for those of us in medicine to not always avoid the harsh truths with our patients, and remember the full picture

Elm is Lucien to me iykyk
Crossing my fingers I can have more time to spend with this book this week🤞🏼 but also will be sad when it’s over

Wait I liked this!! Slow pace, but kept me intrigued and invested in the characters. I have so many thoughts. Evidently my prior knowledge of the Romanov family was limited to the movie Anastasia and the Rasputin song so I found a lot of the factual tidbits interesting!
Our book club has been reading lots of historical fiction.. was struggling to get through them lately but quite enjoyed this one.

Unfortunately, this book fell victim to the fact I’ve recently read another thriller that’s way too similar in its plot…. Good story, no complaints, just wasn’t really on the edge of my seat because I could see where this was headed

IM OBSESSED. My head is SPINNING right now at this ending. This whole magic system is soooooo unique and intriguing and I’m in love with the characters. I’ve been wanting to read this for so long and I’m so glad I finally did! Perfect spooky season fantasy
I do wish there was like an index with all the cards as reminders because I could not keep them all straight😂 oh well

Took me a while to get through this one, both because it was a re-read competing for attention and because there were many days lately I wanted nothing to do with a very political book, ya know? But the ending is a punch to the gut every time

I’m on a DNF streak😅 I got bored. We love everyone no matter who you are or what you look like- a great message- but the whole story felt superficial, sappy, and plotless. I knew where this was headed from the jump, and learned no new plot-changing information. The background info to create the conflict was missing for me.
I then came across something I disagreed with and it was just my final excuse tbh.

A topic that’s been heavy on my mind lately as I near the end of school

DNF @35%… this is for book club this month and I just could not get into it no matter how hard I tried…

Was there something very obvious the mmc should’ve noticed and didn’t until the end? Yes. Did I devour this and love every second? Also yes

Yep yep yep I’m hooked already. Alice Feeney has to be one of my favorite thriller authors

Wanted a thriller I’d binge and be itching to finish and this did the trick!!

Avengers End Game, but centered around a marriage😂 the beginning of this started to drag a bit for me but the last 25% was really enjoyable!!

Inhaled this one. I actually could’ve done with it being a little longer because the end seemed abrupt, but this book made my flights this week very enjoyable!
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Trope spoiler:
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I think this is the only ACTUAL enemies-to-lovers I’ve read. It’s done very well, and the conflict between them is deep and based on real problems keeping them apart.

I really liked this!!! I did guess one of the twists pretty early on, but there was still enough to come that it didn’t ruin the end for me. I liked the world and the characters a lot, and even the cliche tropes included were done very well! Excited to continue on.

I thought this was YA but I don’t think I’d describe it that way..😂

I loveeee a witch fantasy

Struggled with this one… will probably finish out this series but not right now.

Also- the narrators would pronounce names differently than each other and one even randomly changed how THEY said a name, drove me crazy😂