juliannewarren12's reviews
35 reviews

I was not hooked at first with this book. I thought the world-building was a little confusing and it took a minute to fully understand Julemarked.

I thought it was an interesting read pretty early on but wasn’t invested until they met for the “last time.” I wish the meetings over the years were introduced to the reader during the same time Astra found out because it would make us better understand the quickness of having to make a decision to stay.

I’m normally against third person  in romance books but the author did a good job. I think the Dual POV really helped.

The side plots of Bernie and her friends’ lives were well done. My biggest complaint is I wish their were more romance between them besides just kissing (I don’t mean spiciness, more so dialogue) Also, Astra was too accepting of his world in my opinion but that didn’t take away from the story at all. 

It is hard to tell how long time has passed in between chapters BUT that makes perfect sense in the story and I like how it involves the reader into the Yules more. 

I lovedddd the ending especially

where she chose her friends over him yet he still came and found her. I think this book could’ve benefited from a 5 years later or 10 years later chapter

but the ending was still very cute. 

 This book is a cute hallmark-esque story and a quick read. Going into it knowing the story wasn’t going to be complex/deep, I thought it was very cute. I finished it in two days and was perfect to read after almost getting into a reading slump, but there were some major flaws I cannot ignore. 

1: This book desperately needed to be written in first person. The third person style made it so hard to connect with any character. The character with the most personality was Austin the kid, but even then we barely know anything about him. The writing seemed to be focused more on describing the scene but we really needed to know Kerry’s thoughts. 

2: There is no chemistry whatsoever and this is considered a romance book. I picked this book up just wanting a Christmasy story, not caring about the romance, but there was no chemistry. 

Between both couples (Kerry and Patrick, Murphy and Claudia), there was no flirting, chemistry, or playful banter occurring. The romance felt forced yet bland and going no where. Patrick kisses Kerry like maybe three times and each just felt me as the reader feeling awkward. While I don’t think “spice” is necessary, there wasn’t even a spark. I think if this book was from Patrick’s perspective it would’ve been way better. Getting to know more about Gretchen and Austin, while observing Kerry from the outside would’ve been a better story imo.

3: The plot was cute but overly simple. 90% of the book is just about selling trees. The customer interactions and day-to-day shifts were just written in too much detail the entire time. I would’ve rather learned more about Kerry and her past or the romances instead of the daily operations.

The only real plot in this book is when Mr Heinz was sick and it reveals he was a famous artist. This also left the ending feeling unresolved as it just cuts off after Kerry announced her plan to stay.

A chapter about a year later would’ve wrapped up the book much better. 

I thought this book was cute and ~did~
enjoy reading it as a filler between serious books, but could not take it seriously. It got me in the Christmas mood but did not provide much else to the reader.  I wouldn’t reread this or recommend it to anyone. 

I really wanted to like this book… I really did, but it is boring. The most common critique seems to be that it is unnecessary long and I agree. It honestly can be cut in half and get the same message across. I was skimming by the end of it. 

Amanda Jones is clearly a good person. She bravely sticks up for what she believes is right and has helped fight book bans tremendously. But, I can’t help but feel annoyed by her. It’s a good example of why leftists get annoyed with white women democrats. The book is just filled with complaining (esp about how people didn’t stick up for her.) I understand why she struggled and I truly do not think I could be as motivated and tough as she is, but it was hard to like her as a narrator. I feel guilty even saying that but it’s the truth. 

I think it’s important for people to be educated on book banning and censorship but I don’t think this is the right book for that. As a fault of my own, I wrongly assumed that this book would be more information but it’s instead a memoir. I did learn things I did not know about book banning but the focus was more on Amanda herself. 

If you chose to read this book, I would only read the speech at the end and the middle for the court cases and other teacher testimonies. It’s the only part where I actually wanted to keep reading this book. It also does a good job explaining the situation, once again proving the book ran on too long. This book could’ve just  different editors.

Overall, I feel for Amanda but I would never read this book again. 

This was an unrealistic plot but a cute story. I found the characters to be very likeable and applicable to my real life. It was a cheeky story that made me smile sometimes but was a simple, predictable plot.

While I didn't catch on to the Mindy as the ex-gf twist; all of the family issues were easy to guess.  Josh quitting was also very predictable about halfway through the book when the big argument with Mr. Brexely occurred but I thought it was cute how they revealed it.

The whole "I love you" after one good weekend is sooo unrealistic but I know that is common in this genre. It was a cheesy but fun use of the enemies-to-lovers trope.

I hated how Lucy did Danny dirty but I think they could've played out that story more. I wish Danny would've been more mad at Lucy (especially for hiding her and Josh to him after stringing Danny along.)

This book should've ended with Lucy working as the COO in my opinion, but it would've been such a funny twist if it ended with her not getting the job. I don't think the cliffhanger of ending the book right before the interview was powerful or interesting at all, but maybe it wasn't supposed to be. 

It was an easy and cute read but I don't think I would ever pick this book up for a re-read.

I'm sorry but this book is boring. Even after starting to skim it halfway through, I almost DNF'ed. I like the overarching message of to not center your life around men/relationships but the author Amy Key doesn't even seem to follow that.  It gives a "why me" vibe that I don't think is very helpful to readers wanting to connect with this book. I feel for the author's pain and it makes me sad hearing her struggle throughout, but this book was hard to get through. The overall book is just depressing and repeats a lot about how the author truly does want romantic love. It is interesting to hear about her perspectives on love, families, and domestic labor to open my mind to other lifestyles. I appreciate the venerability Key has opening up about topics like grief, abortion, loneliness, etc. 

I thought this was going to be a more positive book about loving and living alone but it was not. To me, even the positive parts still had a somber tone all tying back to how Key still wishes for romantic love. It was hard to fully appreciate her friendships and other happy moments when not even a paragraph later it was back to being "love-less."

I will say, it's impressive how the author can connect her life to one single song (Blue) so much and analyze a single song for 200+ pages. I don't know who Joni Mitchell is so the analysis didn't really connect with me, probably playing into why I was so bored. 

To be honest, it took me a month from checking out the book to actually start it. I thought it was going to be dense and difficult to read, but wow I was so wrong. This book perfectly breaks down the modern political scene and what we can do, into a digestible and relatable narrative. The book is filled with reflection prompts and action items that make community engagement feel less intimidating to a normal person. I will definitely be buying my own copy to reference back on and make notes. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get involved in local (or higher up) government!! 

Very repetitive and surface level. It is about 110 pages but could have been slimmed down to 40 pages roughly. I picked up this book because I have heard of hygge but didn't know much about it and I put down this book feeling about the same. It says that this book is just an introduction, so I can't really blame the author for the surface level writing, but there's not much to it. This book is a very very quick read and a good reminder to enjoy the little things in life, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. If you are interested in hygge, I would look elsewhere.

I haven't loved a book this much in so long. I'll admit, I don't think I'm smart enough for this book and it was very hard to get into at first. You get thrown into this world immediately with no world building whatsoever. It was confusing at first but then about 40ish pages in, you finally start to fully grasp what's happening.

I love the way the book flows with small chapters ending in the letters from red and blue. I fully visualized this world in my head and could "see" the story as I was reading it and it was truly beautiful. Red was such a loveable character in my opinion, I wish I could read a whole series about her and this world. I thought it was a beautiful story that I will be thinking about for coming days. 
I will say that some parts are pretty "over-written" but you don't need to get hung up on every sentence to understand and enjoy this book. I could read this book over and over and not get bored of it. This is definitely one of my favorite books ever though. 

Even not feeling smart enough to read this, I still give this book 5 stars and it is one of my favorites. The vibes and essence of the story are truly beautiful and it's the kind of book that leaves you thinking about it weeks later. I want more of Red and Blue, a series; a movie; anything. 

If you plan to read this, I would get the 'book club' edition that has the introduction because that'll make it so much easier to just jump in and fully enjoy the story.

couldn't even finish... I hated this book to be honest. I keep forgetting I even started it and it was so difficult for me to attempt to read. sorry Adam lol 

 cant even finish... i was in a reading groove but this brought me into a reading slump. I don't plan on picking this book back up ever.