Oh, look! I finally managed to finish this one.

Um, so… unpopular opinion ahead, I guess, because it seems everyone and their grandma loved this book.

I did not. I liked the first half (or thereabouts) well enough — it was a bit too purple prosey, but I don’t mind that occasionally and I thought it would be a solid 4-star read. Around the halfway mark, though, I felt like the story started to drag and became somewhat repetitive. Likewise, in the beginning Phoenix seemed like a pretty interesting MC, but after a while, reading his philosophically-advanced POV became simply too exhausting for my apparently pea-brained self. Sebastian’s POV was similar in that aspect, only with more angst thrown in. Fun.

As you can expect, their love story was melodramatic AF. We can’t be together, we have to be together, but we can’t, etc, etc… And then, the author decided that this, this ‘plot twist’ would be a good idea? That baby arc did nothing to improve the book, and it probably pissed off a lot of more sensitive readers. It was unimaginative, unoriginal, and — you got it — added even more angst to this story, so I guess it did its job…

I admit to skimming the last few chapters — which I never do — but I don't think I would’ve managed to finish this otherwise. ( )

The ultimate love story

My heart ached from reading this. There was an unexpected intensity to this book. Kind of like picking up a pillow only to realise that it was sculpted from stone rather than filled with feathers. I loved this book! At times it was painful to read. Then again at times life is painful to live. This book was love in written form. ( )