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Through the Years #1
Close to You
Milow can’t speak. Her father took her voice before she ever had a chance to use it, leaving her trapped in silence and haunted by memories no one should ever endure. Every day is a reminder of what was taken from her, and every moment is a quiet battle to survive the shadows of her past.
When she arrives at a new foster home, Milow expects nothing. Just another place where she doesn’t belong and isn’t loved. But then she meets Ashby, her new foster brother, who has lived through his own hell. Somehow, he sees her, and without words or judgment, he understands her in a way no one else ever has.
Growing up together, their bond deepens into something unbreakable. Ashby becomes her protector and the one constant in her life. They spend years leaning on each other, but childhood doesn’t last forever, and that closeness starts to shift into something more complicated and intense.
As they grow older, the world gets crueler. The bullying Milow has endured her whole life never lets up, and it only becomes heavier. At the same time, the pressure on Ashby keeps building as school and swimming demand more from him.
Milow has to decide how much of herself she can risk in a world that has never treated her gently, while Ashby has to choose what he’s willing to sacrifice to reach his goals.
But after everything, they know one truth: no matter what it costs, they will always choose each other.
CLOSE TO YOU is an epic and emotional coming-of-age novel with a HEA that deals with heavy topics.
This book is not meant for sensitive readers.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Each book in this series focuses on a different couple and tells their story. All the stories take place during the same time period, so events in one book may overlap with those in another. You will encounter familiar situations, locations, or characters from the other books, but from the couple's perspective featured in the current story. Because the books share the same timeline and interconnect in this way, they are meant to be read in order (or, in the future, as tandem reads) and cannot be fully understood as standalone stories. Together, the books form a continuous, interconnected series.
That said... Milow and Ashby will get at least 1 more book!
When she arrives at a new foster home, Milow expects nothing. Just another place where she doesn’t belong and isn’t loved. But then she meets Ashby, her new foster brother, who has lived through his own hell. Somehow, he sees her, and without words or judgment, he understands her in a way no one else ever has.
Growing up together, their bond deepens into something unbreakable. Ashby becomes her protector and the one constant in her life. They spend years leaning on each other, but childhood doesn’t last forever, and that closeness starts to shift into something more complicated and intense.
As they grow older, the world gets crueler. The bullying Milow has endured her whole life never lets up, and it only becomes heavier. At the same time, the pressure on Ashby keeps building as school and swimming demand more from him.
Milow has to decide how much of herself she can risk in a world that has never treated her gently, while Ashby has to choose what he’s willing to sacrifice to reach his goals.
But after everything, they know one truth: no matter what it costs, they will always choose each other.
CLOSE TO YOU is an epic and emotional coming-of-age novel with a HEA that deals with heavy topics.
This book is not meant for sensitive readers.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Each book in this series focuses on a different couple and tells their story. All the stories take place during the same time period, so events in one book may overlap with those in another. You will encounter familiar situations, locations, or characters from the other books, but from the couple's perspective featured in the current story. Because the books share the same timeline and interconnect in this way, they are meant to be read in order (or, in the future, as tandem reads) and cannot be fully understood as standalone stories. Together, the books form a continuous, interconnected series.
That said... Milow and Ashby will get at least 1 more book!
545 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 17, 2026
2374 people are currently reading
22646 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,256 reviews
March 26, 2026
“I’ve got you. Always and forever, Milow.”
I can’t remember the last time I cried my entire way through a book like this. MILOW AND ASHBY ARE MY ROMAN EMPIRE AND MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS!!!! I never wanted this to end despite the emotional roller coaster it put me through. I want to live in this world with these characters FOREVER! Im so obsessed it’s not even funny I’m about to turn around and reread because I absolutely refuse to say goodbye. Oh my HEART IT ACHESSSSS.
Milow and Ashby are my new favorite Johnny and Shannon variant. And I don’t say that lightly.
This is an upper YA coming of age romance but let me tell you it is not for the weak it will rip your heart out and stomp all over it then slowly put it back together… but with that being said it does read a little bit younger so keep that in mind going in!
The shy girl with anxiety who wants to go about life unseen x the popular golden retriever guy who wants nothing more than to protect her is one of my favorite tropes!!
Milow is mute and her incredibly abusive father died when she was 6 and she was placed into the most loving home along with two other boys that were adopted into the same family, one of those boys being Ashby. Ashby who learns sign language at the age of 7 to communicate with her. And they form the most incredible bond and friendship that turns into more as they get older. These two have loved each other their entire lives and simply don’t exist without the other. These way Ashby is so patient and kind and caring and protective over Milow squeezes my heart. These two cherish each other so deeply I can’t handle it. Their relationship is so pure and with zero toxicity and it was so refreshing to read. Milow also gets severely bullied in high school so there are some very deeply upsetting scenes so prepare tissues. Ashby also breaks my heart and though we didn’t dive fully into his story, I’m already in pain for him.
The mental health rep was perfect with how the author depicted anxiety and PTSD. Milow also has skin picking disorder and my goodness ASHBY LITERALLY RESEARCHES IT SO HE CAN KNOW HOW BEST TO HELP HER BYE.
Also the found family and friend group don’t even start with me. I am so deeply emotionally attached to each and every one of these characters it’s not even funny. I NEED THE NEXT BOOK RIGHT NOW!! The way I laughed, cried, screamed, felt literally everything! Ugh I’m yearning for more!!! I’m so happy Ashby and Milow will be getting another book (though it does end with a HEA) because I need so much more!! And you can tell the author left questions unanswered on purpose because they have a lot more story to tell.
I miss them already 😭😭😭
“You have a beautiful mind, and even more beautiful soul, Milow.”
“I was in love with her. And even though I was only seven, I knew that was exactly what I felt for Milow.”
“I don’t want to use my voice. Not if you can’t. Not when yours was taken from you.”
I can’t remember the last time I cried my entire way through a book like this. MILOW AND ASHBY ARE MY ROMAN EMPIRE AND MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS!!!! I never wanted this to end despite the emotional roller coaster it put me through. I want to live in this world with these characters FOREVER! Im so obsessed it’s not even funny I’m about to turn around and reread because I absolutely refuse to say goodbye. Oh my HEART IT ACHESSSSS.
Milow and Ashby are my new favorite Johnny and Shannon variant. And I don’t say that lightly.
This is an upper YA coming of age romance but let me tell you it is not for the weak it will rip your heart out and stomp all over it then slowly put it back together… but with that being said it does read a little bit younger so keep that in mind going in!
The shy girl with anxiety who wants to go about life unseen x the popular golden retriever guy who wants nothing more than to protect her is one of my favorite tropes!!
Milow is mute and her incredibly abusive father died when she was 6 and she was placed into the most loving home along with two other boys that were adopted into the same family, one of those boys being Ashby. Ashby who learns sign language at the age of 7 to communicate with her. And they form the most incredible bond and friendship that turns into more as they get older. These two have loved each other their entire lives and simply don’t exist without the other. These way Ashby is so patient and kind and caring and protective over Milow squeezes my heart. These two cherish each other so deeply I can’t handle it. Their relationship is so pure and with zero toxicity and it was so refreshing to read. Milow also gets severely bullied in high school so there are some very deeply upsetting scenes so prepare tissues. Ashby also breaks my heart and though we didn’t dive fully into his story, I’m already in pain for him.
The mental health rep was perfect with how the author depicted anxiety and PTSD. Milow also has skin picking disorder and my goodness ASHBY LITERALLY RESEARCHES IT SO HE CAN KNOW HOW BEST TO HELP HER BYE.
Also the found family and friend group don’t even start with me. I am so deeply emotionally attached to each and every one of these characters it’s not even funny. I NEED THE NEXT BOOK RIGHT NOW!! The way I laughed, cried, screamed, felt literally everything! Ugh I’m yearning for more!!! I’m so happy Ashby and Milow will be getting another book (though it does end with a HEA) because I need so much more!! And you can tell the author left questions unanswered on purpose because they have a lot more story to tell.
I miss them already 😭😭😭
“You have a beautiful mind, and even more beautiful soul, Milow.”
“I was in love with her. And even though I was only seven, I knew that was exactly what I felt for Milow.”
“I don’t want to use my voice. Not if you can’t. Not when yours was taken from you.”
May 5, 2026
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❀post reading thoughts❀
(★★★★.25)
━━━━━━━━━━━━
while this is marketed as a clean YA romance, and there is no explicit content, pls note that this is far from an easy read. there are themes that may be triggering to some. so please check your triggers before reading it
tw: sexual abuse, domestic abuse, child abuse, death, anxiety, skin picking disorder, severe bullying
━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Things will work out for you, Ashby, and I won't ever leave your side.] "I know," I said, smiling at her as I cupped her face in my hands. "But as long as I'm close to you, nothing else matters."
Okayyy. so i finally did it. i read my most anticipated release of the year. and i loved it. but i do have some thoughts.
this book has 2 parts and has over 53 chapters but it's very fast paced and written in a very simple language- so i don't quite think that it has any pacing issues.
b4 starting this, i was mentally prepared to sob my way throughout the book and i was right yk.
I rmbr starting this and sobbing and dry heaving while reading the first part. the first 10 chapters. to say that reading the first part was difficult would be a huge understatement. i was physically sick while reading it. my eyes hurt, my throat closed up and my chest felt heavy. and it got too much. so i had to physically put the book down. ohmygod. her biological father surgically removed her vocal cords when she was 4 so that she couldn't scream for help when he raped her- he was a doctor, and he told her that good obedient girls don't speak. and he told her that magic had taken away her voice. SHE WAS 4. SHE WAS 4. SHE WAS 4. imo, nissa kinda brushed over that part. like, he died in chapter 1. but what happened after that? what about her mother? and did she have no one else? and what about police investigation? after everything he put her through? her biological father (i refuse to call him 'her dad') kinda got the easy way out and i didn't like it :|
i do, however, think that part 2 lacked some of the emotional depth that i'd been expecting- bc after inconsolably crying my way throughout part 1, i was expecting more emotional depth. bc as much as i disliked binding 13, and found johnny intolerable, it still made my cry and my heart dropped at the ending.
you see, milow went through A LOT in her childhood. but there was no mention of her trauma until her past was revealed. so i felt like that was kinda downplayed. i wanted to see smth more raw and smth which felt real ykwim? also, she gave a glimpse of ashby's backstory- like, once or twice- and he hasn't had an easy past either- but that was it. a glimpse. ntg more. i do wish she had explored that fully. but i think that's why there's going to be another book of ashby and milow.
that being said, i still liked the anxiety and the mental health rep. (special mention- the part when ashby told milow that she can hold his hand whenever she feels the urge to pick her skin😭😭😭)
also, in the middle, the writing style dipped down slightly. there was some repetition so i do get where the criticism comes from and the dialogue started to feel stilted. and yeah i get it. milow is smart. i understood that the first 30 times they said it😭😭no need to repeat it time and again bruh. but it improved after that (esp around ch 35. and as promised by the author, ch 41 did make me cry- i was reading it with a hand over my mouth. that scene left me with no words. how can someone be so cruel?! milow forgave haillie by saying that haillie was hurt too. but that is not an excuse. that doesn't absolve her of what she did.)
that being said, i read the last 45 chapters in 3 hours. and this felt too short. ashby and milow deserve the world. these 2 need to be protected at all costs😭 i'm so in love w these two ydek.
so yeah i need book 2 rn.
ashby is one of the sweetest mmc's i've ever read abt. wdym he is caring and protective, matches outfits w her, learns sign language at 7 and researches abt skin picking disorder bc she struggles with it. his reaction when he found out that she can't speak ever again? ohmygod. ashby, my sweet boy🩷😭. emotionally intelligent mmc's >>>
i adored the friend group and found family part. it was so well done. but imo, the side characters could've been written w more depth. don't get me wrong- i do like gus, iris, wesley, evie, stan, scottie and jasper (i hope i got the names right😭🙏 i'm not that good at rmbring names ughhh.) but they all felt kinda one dimensional and i hope that she works on that part aswl in the later books of the series.
loose ends notwithstanding, overall, it's still very immersive. but do keep in mind that this book is not meant for everyone. i think nissa has potential to improve (that's why 4.25 stars) and i do have some high hopes for book 2 bc there were a lot of unanswered questions. and i desperately need answers.
also, i do get why some ppl compare this book to boys of tommen series. and while bot will have a special place in my heart and ik that no book will come close to redeeming 6, i also think that reducing this book down to just a BOT variant would be doing it a huge disservice.
━━━━
❀ quotes❀~
━━━━
---“I like her. I think I’ll be her best friend if she wants me to be.”
yeah so what's with 7 yo boys making me cry. first it was gibsie. and then ashby
---“I don’t want to use my voice. Not if you can’t. Not when yours was taken from you.”
---“The world doesn’t deserve you,” I whispered. Tears kept rolling down my face. "I don’t deserve you. I don't. But I’m so grateful that you let me be here with you, and that you trust me enough to stay by your side.”
---"The sun was rising outside, brightening up the room as the morning rolled in. But no matter what the world was doing, I only cared about Milow"
---“You always make me feel calm,” he whispered, drawing in a slow breath. “I can’t explain it. All I need is for you to be in my line of sight, and my heart slows down.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
*⁀➷ feel free to skip this part cs it has mentions of sexual and domestic abuse-
---"My eyes snapped to the door as the doorknob clicked. Fear rushed through me, for a moment thinking that it was Daddy coming to get me. He used to come at night, telling me that it was time to be an obedient girl, and I always went with him without a fight. Because if I fought, the owie-stick would hurt even more."
---"Daddy always said that I shouldn’t eat too much because girls weren’t supposed to eat a lot"
she's 6 yo bruhhh.
aaand that's the sound of my heart breaking. 💔💔💔
---"Only bad things ever happened in that room."
please this is breaking my heart and i'm only on ch 1😭
---"Maybe, with him being this tired, he wouldn’t put the owie-stick inside of me."
ohmygod. she's 6 here.
please
wtffff
i can't stop crying.
mind you, this was chapter 1
---"I missed Daddy, but I didn’t miss the owie-stick. I didn’t miss the pain, and I didn’t miss the way he made me cry, even when he said he only did it because he loved me."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
side note
started- march 29
finished- april 01
━━━━━
❀pre-read❀
━━━━━
i've been waiting for months. but i finally got this book omg. i've heard some really great things about this book and it's rlly intriguing.
BUT i just finished taming 7 and i'm not fucking okay. irdk if starting this rn is a good idea but here goes ntg😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏
❀post reading thoughts❀
(★★★★.25)
━━━━━━━━━━━━
while this is marketed as a clean YA romance, and there is no explicit content, pls note that this is far from an easy read. there are themes that may be triggering to some. so please check your triggers before reading it
tw: sexual abuse, domestic abuse, child abuse, death, anxiety, skin picking disorder, severe bullying
━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Things will work out for you, Ashby, and I won't ever leave your side.] "I know," I said, smiling at her as I cupped her face in my hands. "But as long as I'm close to you, nothing else matters."
Okayyy. so i finally did it. i read my most anticipated release of the year. and i loved it. but i do have some thoughts.
this book has 2 parts and has over 53 chapters but it's very fast paced and written in a very simple language- so i don't quite think that it has any pacing issues.
b4 starting this, i was mentally prepared to sob my way throughout the book and i was right yk.
I rmbr starting this and sobbing and dry heaving while reading the first part. the first 10 chapters. to say that reading the first part was difficult would be a huge understatement. i was physically sick while reading it. my eyes hurt, my throat closed up and my chest felt heavy. and it got too much. so i had to physically put the book down. ohmygod. her biological father surgically removed her vocal cords when she was 4 so that she couldn't scream for help when he raped her- he was a doctor, and he told her that good obedient girls don't speak. and he told her that magic had taken away her voice. SHE WAS 4. SHE WAS 4. SHE WAS 4. imo, nissa kinda brushed over that part. like, he died in chapter 1. but what happened after that? what about her mother? and did she have no one else? and what about police investigation? after everything he put her through? her biological father (i refuse to call him 'her dad') kinda got the easy way out and i didn't like it :|
i do, however, think that part 2 lacked some of the emotional depth that i'd been expecting- bc after inconsolably crying my way throughout part 1, i was expecting more emotional depth. bc as much as i disliked binding 13, and found johnny intolerable, it still made my cry and my heart dropped at the ending.
you see, milow went through A LOT in her childhood. but there was no mention of her trauma until her past was revealed. so i felt like that was kinda downplayed. i wanted to see smth more raw and smth which felt real ykwim? also, she gave a glimpse of ashby's backstory- like, once or twice- and he hasn't had an easy past either- but that was it. a glimpse. ntg more. i do wish she had explored that fully. but i think that's why there's going to be another book of ashby and milow.
that being said, i still liked the anxiety and the mental health rep. (special mention- the part when ashby told milow that she can hold his hand whenever she feels the urge to pick her skin😭😭😭)
also, in the middle, the writing style dipped down slightly. there was some repetition so i do get where the criticism comes from and the dialogue started to feel stilted. and yeah i get it. milow is smart. i understood that the first 30 times they said it😭😭no need to repeat it time and again bruh. but it improved after that (esp around ch 35. and as promised by the author, ch 41 did make me cry- i was reading it with a hand over my mouth. that scene left me with no words. how can someone be so cruel?! milow forgave haillie by saying that haillie was hurt too. but that is not an excuse. that doesn't absolve her of what she did.)
that being said, i read the last 45 chapters in 3 hours. and this felt too short. ashby and milow deserve the world. these 2 need to be protected at all costs😭 i'm so in love w these two ydek.
so yeah i need book 2 rn.
ashby is one of the sweetest mmc's i've ever read abt. wdym he is caring and protective, matches outfits w her, learns sign language at 7 and researches abt skin picking disorder bc she struggles with it. his reaction when he found out that she can't speak ever again? ohmygod. ashby, my sweet boy🩷😭. emotionally intelligent mmc's >>>
i adored the friend group and found family part. it was so well done. but imo, the side characters could've been written w more depth. don't get me wrong- i do like gus, iris, wesley, evie, stan, scottie and jasper (i hope i got the names right😭🙏 i'm not that good at rmbring names ughhh.) but they all felt kinda one dimensional and i hope that she works on that part aswl in the later books of the series.
loose ends notwithstanding, overall, it's still very immersive. but do keep in mind that this book is not meant for everyone. i think nissa has potential to improve (that's why 4.25 stars) and i do have some high hopes for book 2 bc there were a lot of unanswered questions. and i desperately need answers.
also, i do get why some ppl compare this book to boys of tommen series. and while bot will have a special place in my heart and ik that no book will come close to redeeming 6, i also think that reducing this book down to just a BOT variant would be doing it a huge disservice.
━━━━
❀ quotes❀~
━━━━
---“I like her. I think I’ll be her best friend if she wants me to be.”
yeah so what's with 7 yo boys making me cry. first it was gibsie. and then ashby
---“I don’t want to use my voice. Not if you can’t. Not when yours was taken from you.”
---“The world doesn’t deserve you,” I whispered. Tears kept rolling down my face. "I don’t deserve you. I don't. But I’m so grateful that you let me be here with you, and that you trust me enough to stay by your side.”
---"The sun was rising outside, brightening up the room as the morning rolled in. But no matter what the world was doing, I only cared about Milow"
---“You always make me feel calm,” he whispered, drawing in a slow breath. “I can’t explain it. All I need is for you to be in my line of sight, and my heart slows down.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
*⁀➷ feel free to skip this part cs it has mentions of sexual and domestic abuse-
---"My eyes snapped to the door as the doorknob clicked. Fear rushed through me, for a moment thinking that it was Daddy coming to get me. He used to come at night, telling me that it was time to be an obedient girl, and I always went with him without a fight. Because if I fought, the owie-stick would hurt even more."
---"Daddy always said that I shouldn’t eat too much because girls weren’t supposed to eat a lot"
she's 6 yo bruhhh.
aaand that's the sound of my heart breaking. 💔💔💔
---"Only bad things ever happened in that room."
please this is breaking my heart and i'm only on ch 1😭
---"Maybe, with him being this tired, he wouldn’t put the owie-stick inside of me."
ohmygod. she's 6 here.
please
wtffff
i can't stop crying.
mind you, this was chapter 1
---"I missed Daddy, but I didn’t miss the owie-stick. I didn’t miss the pain, and I didn’t miss the way he made me cry, even when he said he only did it because he loved me."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
side note
started- march 29
finished- april 01
━━━━━
❀pre-read❀
━━━━━
i've been waiting for months. but i finally got this book omg. i've heard some really great things about this book and it's rlly intriguing.
BUT i just finished taming 7 and i'm not fucking okay. irdk if starting this rn is a good idea but here goes ntg😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏
Want to Read
May 4, 2026
He broke down in her arms when he found out why she’s mute and can never use her voice again
OR
Her dad ripped her vocal cords so she couldn’t scream for help when he abused her
OR
Her dad ripped her vocal cords so she couldn’t scream for help when he abused her
![Profile Image for Saranya [hiatus].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1777133106i%2F187457635._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
May 1, 2026
3.45 stars!
⋆˙⟡ adopted siblings
⋆˙⟡ found family
⋆˙⟡ mute fmc
⋆˙⟡ friends to lovers
⋆˙⟡ sports romance
TW: child abuse, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, death, bullying.
This was a nice read. The short chapters made it a real page-turner and kept me hooked for the most part. Even though the middle felt a bit slow and repetitive, it wasn't enough to derail the experience- just a brief, slightly exhausting lull in an otherwise great book.
The plot felt a bit thin since the blurb gave away most of the story, leaving much of the book feeling repetitive and slow. There were several unanswered questions and loose ends that felt a bit distracting. I am holding out hope that the next book bridges those gaps and provide the clarity the story needs.
While it was supposed to really make me cry cats and dogs given the premise made it sound like a tear-jerker, maybe (?) the writing style couldn't make me cry much or probably, my tear ducts stopped functioning properly while I was reading this. I only truly felt moved by the glimpses into her childhood and the bullying chapter. However, the ending was a total shock- I didn't see that twist coming at all and it completely caught me off guard.
🦋⃟💗᪲᪲᪲ the characters: •ﻌ•
Millow is an incredibly sweet and resilient protagonist. Her backstory is devastating. The fact that she had to endure such a horrific procedure at the hands of her biological father when she was only four years old is almost unthinkable. Despite that trauma, she remains intelligent and deeply endearing. Her characterisation felt grounded and realistic which made it impossible for me not to root for her.
Ashby is the definition of a supportive partner and friend. He is the kind of person everyone deserves in their corner. However, as a swimmer myself, I had to laugh at his workout routine! Doing 200 laps daily felt a bit superhuman. I usually feel completely drained after just 20 laps, and that’s with breaks included. Seeing him breeze through ten times that amount definitely felt like a bit of an exaggeration! But it could be possible. I do not really know the routine of Olympics winning level swimmers, haha.
Wesley, Evie, Iris and Gus were such a breath of fresh air. Having a supportive, loving family added so much heart to the story.
Scottie, Stan and Jasper were equally wonderful. I’m already looking forward to the 2nd book. I’m especially curious to see how the stories of Scottie and Stan develop further.
The found family dynamic was truly the heart of this book. Witnessing such sweet, supportive friendships was beautiful. The fact that everyone learnt ASL just for Millow! Millow and Ashby had such a beautiful friendship that it's something to die for. On the flip side, there were a few characters I genuinely detested. It is incredibly rare for me to dislike female characters, yet these few managed to do just that. I was already reeling from that, but the ending was something I never saw coming and it was absolutely gut-wrenching.
I also couldn't help but notice how this book felt similar to B13 and K13. Anyways, despite some confusing plot holes and lack of explanation in certain areas, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and I'm so excited for the next book.
──── ୨୧ ──────── ୨୧ ──────── ୨୧ ──────── ୨୧ ────
⋮ ⌗ ┆ 𝖖𝖚𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖘: 𓏵‧₊˚ ┊
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
⁀જ➣ I don't deserve you...
But I’m so grateful that you let me be here with you, and that you trust me enough to stay by your side.
⁀જ➣ "I think I’ll be her best friend if she wants me to be."
⁀જ➣ I missed Daddy, but I didn’t miss the owie-stick. I didn’t miss the pain, and I didn’t miss the way he made me cry, even when he said he only did it because he loved me.
I'm crying, omg.
⁀જ➣ ...Maybe, with him being this tired, he wouldn’t put the owie-stick inside of me.
excuse me..?
⁀જ➣ Daddy always said that I shouldn’t eat too much because girls weren’t supposed to eat.
T_T
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pre-read
It’s been less than a month since its release, yet this book is already a viral sensation. My friends haven't stopped thinking about it and now I’m ready to see what the heartbreak is all about. Finally starting the buddy read with my bestie, ishyyy- aka melobaby to see if our tear ducts can handle it💔. Let the heartbreak begin! 🥀
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⋆˙⟡ adopted siblings
⋆˙⟡ found family
⋆˙⟡ mute fmc
⋆˙⟡ friends to lovers
⋆˙⟡ sports romance
TW: child abuse, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, death, bullying.
This was a nice read. The short chapters made it a real page-turner and kept me hooked for the most part. Even though the middle felt a bit slow and repetitive, it wasn't enough to derail the experience- just a brief, slightly exhausting lull in an otherwise great book.
The plot felt a bit thin since the blurb gave away most of the story, leaving much of the book feeling repetitive and slow. There were several unanswered questions and loose ends that felt a bit distracting. I am holding out hope that the next book bridges those gaps and provide the clarity the story needs.
While it was supposed to really make me cry cats and dogs given the premise made it sound like a tear-jerker, maybe (?) the writing style couldn't make me cry much or probably, my tear ducts stopped functioning properly while I was reading this. I only truly felt moved by the glimpses into her childhood and the bullying chapter. However, the ending was a total shock- I didn't see that twist coming at all and it completely caught me off guard.
🦋⃟💗᪲᪲᪲ the characters: •ﻌ•
Millow is an incredibly sweet and resilient protagonist. Her backstory is devastating. The fact that she had to endure such a horrific procedure at the hands of her biological father when she was only four years old is almost unthinkable. Despite that trauma, she remains intelligent and deeply endearing. Her characterisation felt grounded and realistic which made it impossible for me not to root for her.
Ashby is the definition of a supportive partner and friend. He is the kind of person everyone deserves in their corner. However, as a swimmer myself, I had to laugh at his workout routine! Doing 200 laps daily felt a bit superhuman. I usually feel completely drained after just 20 laps, and that’s with breaks included. Seeing him breeze through ten times that amount definitely felt like a bit of an exaggeration! But it could be possible. I do not really know the routine of Olympics winning level swimmers, haha.
Wesley, Evie, Iris and Gus were such a breath of fresh air. Having a supportive, loving family added so much heart to the story.
Scottie, Stan and Jasper were equally wonderful. I’m already looking forward to the 2nd book. I’m especially curious to see how the stories of Scottie and Stan develop further.
The found family dynamic was truly the heart of this book. Witnessing such sweet, supportive friendships was beautiful. The fact that everyone learnt ASL just for Millow! Millow and Ashby had such a beautiful friendship that it's something to die for. On the flip side, there were a few characters I genuinely detested. It is incredibly rare for me to dislike female characters, yet these few managed to do just that. I was already reeling from that, but the ending was something I never saw coming and it was absolutely gut-wrenching.
I also couldn't help but notice how this book felt similar to B13 and K13. Anyways, despite some confusing plot holes and lack of explanation in certain areas, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and I'm so excited for the next book.
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⋮ ⌗ ┆ 𝖖𝖚𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖘: 𓏵‧₊˚ ┊
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
⁀જ➣ I don't deserve you...
But I’m so grateful that you let me be here with you, and that you trust me enough to stay by your side.
⁀જ➣ "I think I’ll be her best friend if she wants me to be."
⁀જ➣ I missed Daddy, but I didn’t miss the owie-stick. I didn’t miss the pain, and I didn’t miss the way he made me cry, even when he said he only did it because he loved me.
I'm crying, omg.
⁀જ➣ ...Maybe, with him being this tired, he wouldn’t put the owie-stick inside of me.
excuse me..?
⁀જ➣ Daddy always said that I shouldn’t eat too much because girls weren’t supposed to eat.
T_T
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pre-read
It’s been less than a month since its release, yet this book is already a viral sensation. My friends haven't stopped thinking about it and now I’m ready to see what the heartbreak is all about. Finally starting the buddy read with my bestie, ishyyy- aka melobaby to see if our tear ducts can handle it💔. Let the heartbreak begin! 🥀
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May 3, 2026
It took me so long to finish this book 😭 Not that it was bad or anything, but it could’ve been shorter.
This book really broke my heart 😭🫠 but I’d never compare it to any of the Boys of Tommen books or characters. It just didn’t hit as hard as they did. Since it’s her debut novel, I’m not going to criticize it too much 🥹🫂
Milow, my baby 😭 What she’s gone through—I can’t even imagine. She was just a child, oh my God 🫠🫠 Though I’m glad she had Ashby 🥹 He really came into her life as a protector. Ashby has gone through a lot too 😭 They both made me sob so much 🤧
I’d say the writing style wasn’t exactly perfect. There were some flaws, which is why I’m giving it 3 stars 🙂↕️ I’m sure the author will improve 🥹 The storyline was really good, though. It gave me all the feels—both sad and happy 🥹🫠
Overall, it was a good read. I liked it a lot 🥹 but it definitely could’ve been better 🫂
Yea, that’s it guys. Love y’all 🫶💙
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🌷🫧💭₊˚ෆ pre-read 🌷🫧💭₊˚ෆ
Imma blame it all on FOMO and my besties’ gorgeous reviews 😓💙
This book really broke my heart 😭🫠 but I’d never compare it to any of the Boys of Tommen books or characters. It just didn’t hit as hard as they did. Since it’s her debut novel, I’m not going to criticize it too much 🥹🫂
Milow, my baby 😭 What she’s gone through—I can’t even imagine. She was just a child, oh my God 🫠🫠 Though I’m glad she had Ashby 🥹 He really came into her life as a protector. Ashby has gone through a lot too 😭 They both made me sob so much 🤧
I’d say the writing style wasn’t exactly perfect. There were some flaws, which is why I’m giving it 3 stars 🙂↕️ I’m sure the author will improve 🥹 The storyline was really good, though. It gave me all the feels—both sad and happy 🥹🫠
Overall, it was a good read. I liked it a lot 🥹 but it definitely could’ve been better 🫂
Yea, that’s it guys. Love y’all 🫶💙
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🌷🫧💭₊˚ෆ pre-read 🌷🫧💭₊˚ෆ
Imma blame it all on FOMO and my besties’ gorgeous reviews 😓💙
April 15, 2026
“𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒘’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆.”
✄┈ 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.
This book was… good. Just good. But honestly, it had so much potential to be so much more 😭
I really loved the structure of the story—splitting it into two parts: childhood and then the teenage years. The first part absolutely broke me. I literally cried in those early chapters and went into the rest of the book expecting to be completely shattered… but that didn’t really happen.
There were definitely painful and heavy moments, but I didn’t feel deeply connected to them. Everything felt a bit surface-level, like the emotions weren’t fully delivered. And I think a big part of that comes from Milow’s personality. She’s too gentle, too pure, too soft… she doesn’t make things feel as big as they should be. She suppresses everything just to avoid upsetting others.
Still, I have to say—young Milow surprised me a lot. She was way too mature for her age, almost unreal, but I liked her anyway 🤍
As for the second part… I won’t lie, I got bored quite a few times. Some things felt repetitive—same situations, same dynamics over and over again. And there wasn’t much depth to the characters. We know things about them, but we don’t feel them. Considering everything they went through (especially Milow), I expected more emotional impact. No flashbacks either, which made it harder to truly connect.
The conversations also felt quite lacking. Most of the time, it was just Ashby asking Milow if she’s okay, reminding her that he’s there for her and that he loves her. And their friends constantly repeating how Milo is the best, the smartest, the coolest… it started to feel a bit repetitive and didn’t really add anything new.
The bullying aspect also felt a bit random. Hallie and Aspen didn’t have any clear reason for targeting Milow, which made it less impactful. And Bennett’s sudden change? That was really confusing and felt out of nowhere.
I really wish we got more of Ashby. He wasn’t enough for me. His constant pressure on himself feels like it comes from his childhood, and I wanted that explored more. His protectiveness over Millow made sense—she needed it—but at the same time, Ashby’s attachment to Milow felt… complicated. It kind of annoyed me, but also made me feel sorry for him? I honestly don’t know 🤷🏻♀️ Everything in his life seemed to revolve around her, and that intensity was a bit overwhelming at times.
Milow growing up with two boys yet still not knowing how to defend herself was… surprising 😅😂
Their relationship, though, felt inevitable. They understand each other without words, and that quiet connection was beautiful. The way they always wanted to be close, to touch, to just be together… especially from Ashby’s side, it felt very real. They were genuinely so soft and cute together 🥺
But my absolute favorite part of the book was the found family trope. Gus and Iris were everything—so loving and warm, especially with the three kids they took in. Each of them had a painful past, yet they still managed to create something safe and comforting.
And Wesley?? Best big brother. I need a book about him. Immediately.
The ending definitely left me curious. I’m really interested to see what happens next with Scottie. I need to know more about her and Stan. And also… why do I feel like Jasper might have a thing for Milo? 😭
Overall: a good read with strong emotional potential that wasn’t fully reached, but still had its soft, beautiful moments 💙
˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖
⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ |𝑃𝑟𝑒-𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑☄️
only 10% read and i’m sooo excited for more! The first chapter... I hope it’s not exactly what I’ve imagined. this might not be an easy read, but I’m here for it! 😓
and can we talk about this cover for a sec? Absolutely gorgeous ✨ I keep staring at it every time… they’re just too cute! 💙
✄┈ 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.
This book was… good. Just good. But honestly, it had so much potential to be so much more 😭
I really loved the structure of the story—splitting it into two parts: childhood and then the teenage years. The first part absolutely broke me. I literally cried in those early chapters and went into the rest of the book expecting to be completely shattered… but that didn’t really happen.
There were definitely painful and heavy moments, but I didn’t feel deeply connected to them. Everything felt a bit surface-level, like the emotions weren’t fully delivered. And I think a big part of that comes from Milow’s personality. She’s too gentle, too pure, too soft… she doesn’t make things feel as big as they should be. She suppresses everything just to avoid upsetting others.
Still, I have to say—young Milow surprised me a lot. She was way too mature for her age, almost unreal, but I liked her anyway 🤍
As for the second part… I won’t lie, I got bored quite a few times. Some things felt repetitive—same situations, same dynamics over and over again. And there wasn’t much depth to the characters. We know things about them, but we don’t feel them. Considering everything they went through (especially Milow), I expected more emotional impact. No flashbacks either, which made it harder to truly connect.
The conversations also felt quite lacking. Most of the time, it was just Ashby asking Milow if she’s okay, reminding her that he’s there for her and that he loves her. And their friends constantly repeating how Milo is the best, the smartest, the coolest… it started to feel a bit repetitive and didn’t really add anything new.
The bullying aspect also felt a bit random. Hallie and Aspen didn’t have any clear reason for targeting Milow, which made it less impactful. And Bennett’s sudden change? That was really confusing and felt out of nowhere.
I really wish we got more of Ashby. He wasn’t enough for me. His constant pressure on himself feels like it comes from his childhood, and I wanted that explored more. His protectiveness over Millow made sense—she needed it—but at the same time, Ashby’s attachment to Milow felt… complicated. It kind of annoyed me, but also made me feel sorry for him? I honestly don’t know 🤷🏻♀️ Everything in his life seemed to revolve around her, and that intensity was a bit overwhelming at times.
Milow growing up with two boys yet still not knowing how to defend herself was… surprising 😅😂
Their relationship, though, felt inevitable. They understand each other without words, and that quiet connection was beautiful. The way they always wanted to be close, to touch, to just be together… especially from Ashby’s side, it felt very real. They were genuinely so soft and cute together 🥺
But my absolute favorite part of the book was the found family trope. Gus and Iris were everything—so loving and warm, especially with the three kids they took in. Each of them had a painful past, yet they still managed to create something safe and comforting.
And Wesley?? Best big brother. I need a book about him. Immediately.
The ending definitely left me curious. I’m really interested to see what happens next with Scottie. I need to know more about her and Stan. And also… why do I feel like Jasper might have a thing for Milo? 😭
Overall: a good read with strong emotional potential that wasn’t fully reached, but still had its soft, beautiful moments 💙
˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖
⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ |𝑃𝑟𝑒-𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑☄️
only 10% read and i’m sooo excited for more! The first chapter... I hope it’s not exactly what I’ve imagined. this might not be an easy read, but I’m here for it! 😓
and can we talk about this cover for a sec? Absolutely gorgeous ✨ I keep staring at it every time… they’re just too cute! 💙
April 12, 2026
It’s genuinely comical how bad this was. Everything about this was underdeveloped, shallow, juvenile, and ALL telling-no showing.
Unfortunately, this was one of the worst books I’ve read this year—if not the worst 🥲 I wish I was exaggerating. I actually went and looked through all of my reads so far this year to make sure and yeah, definitely one of the worst.
Look, the premise had potential, but unfortunately the execution was very poor!
Please do NOT be fooled by these delulu 5 star ratings…… Just trust me ok. I was so excited going into this book, too. I fully anticipated this being a 4-5 star read….
I’m sorry guys but this is one of those times where these positive reviews feel like they were paid for bc there is absolutely no way we read the same book. There isn’t a soul alive that can convince me this is good.
The issues in this book were so glaringly obvious and the prose was bad in every way imaginable.
Even if you were somehow oblivious to the complete lack of depth in the characters & storyline, I can’t see how anyone wouldn’t find this extremely boring. Once part 2 started, it was legitimately just a series of walking us through Milow’s monotonous days filled with a whole lot of nothing and repeat conversations talking about nothing. If you’re going to make your characters extremely uninteresting, you cannot have a plot with absolutely NOTHING stimulating in it. I was BORED to tears. Truly.
⇢ Real chemistry or depth? Not a chance.
This felt like it was reallyyyy trying to convince me of this “deep connection” between Milow & Ashby that just did not exist. I felt absolutely nothing for them. The chemistry was NOT there, nor does the relationship feel earned whatsoever. The author having all of the side characters constantly making little comments so early on about noticing their connection felt like another way the author was trying to sell me on their supposed “connection.” How about just SHOWING me they have a deep bond & good chemistry….? Every emotion in this is stated outright instead of being built through character actions or subtext. Our proof for reasons why they love each other is simply “Ashby just gets me.” Where’s the specificities? Why is everything so generalized?? There is nothing unique or compelling about the relationship between these two. NOTHINNNNNG. 😩 I couldn’t even form a real connection to them as individual characters so I found myself really struggling. I would’ve preferred a gradual build to their connection and at least an attempt to show us that on page.
For a story that starts off very sad for our fmc, I felt like this at least suggested the potential for a lot of depth and complexity to come for the characters/story. Unfortunately, I was wrong. All of the characters really lacked depth and were incredibly ONE DIMENSIONAL. Which is crazy because given the circumstances/pasts of both MCs, how is it even possible that they’re so surface-level and lack complexity?? Milow has a very traumatic backstory, yet what we get from her is extremely lackluster and poorly developed. All of the moments that are supposed to generate an emotional response end up falling flat and feel soooo hollow. I could tell it was trying to make me feel something, but just like their relationship, none of it felt earned. You can’t include heavy themes and then neglect the depth & exploration they require. I’m actually still in shock over how surface-level this was!!!
⇢ Personalities, dialogue, & more tell-heavy:
The personalities of every character in this were soooo dull & forgettable. None of them seem to have any characteristics that stick out or help me distinguish them from one another. They could’ve been talking to anyone for all I know and I wouldn’t have been able to tell who was who because they all blended together.
The dialogue in this was so cringeyyyyyyy, unrealistic, and immature. It was so overly performative to the point that I paused multiple times to laugh in disbelief because literally no one would say half of this 💀 Everything about it felt stiff and almost scripted; where none of the interactions that happened felt believable.
There was an insane amount of telling over showing. How am I expected to form any real connection to anyone if you’re just telling me how I’m supposed to perceive them? Because that’s exactly what this entire book did. And to me, it’s incredibly LAZY writing. The author wanted us to love this MC so badly she constantlyyyy has other characters telling us how kind and great she is. I was beyond over it. I actually thought my eyes were gonna roll to the back of my head from how much eye-rolling I was doing. Please let us form our own opinions about a character. Why were characters randomly interjecting things like “she’s a genius with a kind heart” about Milow? Seriously guys, it was ridiculous how much it was reiterated how amazing Milow is when she’s literally just standing there and has done absolutely nothing in the story to warrant these comments 🤣🤣🤣
This is a real conversation that happens:
“‘You’re the coolest, Milow.’
‘And the smartest,’ Stan added, lifting a finger to emphasize his words.
‘And she’s super beautiful, too,’ Scottie said with a grin.
My face turned bright red for the millionth time today. They were being silly.
‘Milow’s just the best,’ Ashby said at last.”
Literally what?? She was just sitting there doing nothing😭 PLEASE - ugh🙄🙄🙄 this happened CONSTANTLY throughout the book and it’s so obnoxious!!! And why do they talk like they’re 12 years old? If the author hadn’t told me these characters weren’t 16-17 years old, I truly would’ve thought they were in middle school.
⇢ Substance & interesting content? No where to be found.
So yeah, on top of all this, absolutely NOTHINNNNG happened in this book. More than 50% of this book is them having conversations about Stan & Scottie’s “relationship problems”? I’m serious, that was the only conversation going on and it was the same conversation over and over and OVERRRR AGAIN. I kept being like, didn’t this just happen last chapter? The lack of variation in even the sentence structure made this a chore to get through. This book was just a constant string of cliches and repetitive dialogue that was so beyond dull I can’t imagine how anyone would find this stimulating whatsoever. You could skip multiple chapters and not miss a single thing.
This is a random complaint, but I wrote this in my notes around the 30% mark so I’m going to include it anyways:
The entire conflict of Aspen throwing herself at Ashby repeatedly and having him reject her multiple times just to show us that he’s only in love with Milow was so cringe and juvenileeeeee lol. It was beyond obvious Ashby wasn’t into her. In fact, he was rude to her on multiple occasions and ur telling me she still didn’t get the hint…? Lollll. I’m sorry it felt so incredibly unrealistic and the fact that the author had Aspen’s character KEEP trying in ways that made her look so bad and embarrassing was just extremely unimaginative. I KNOW we can come up with something else that somehow sells it to us that Ashby only wants Milow.
And the mmc constantly making comments about her wearing too much makeup felt so juvenile. And it also just felt kind of icky.
If I ever see someone try to compare this to Johnny & Shannon again…. LOL no. Absolutely not. I’m calling the POLICEEEE. Do NOTTT disrespect them like that🤣🤣🤣
I know many of you told me to just DNF this and I wanted to so bad, but I didn’t want anyone to be able to dismiss my review because it was a DNF. So here we are LOL.
I can MAYBE understand 3 stars for this book (MAX), but anything higher than that is genuinely shocking. I’d give it less than 1 star if I could because I wanted to dnf so bad.
—————————————————————————————
Review to come and it’s not gonna be pretty 😅
Unfortunately, this was one of the worst books I’ve read this year—if not the worst 🥲 I wish I was exaggerating. I actually went and looked through all of my reads so far this year to make sure and yeah, definitely one of the worst.
Look, the premise had potential, but unfortunately the execution was very poor!
Please do NOT be fooled by these delulu 5 star ratings…… Just trust me ok. I was so excited going into this book, too. I fully anticipated this being a 4-5 star read….
I’m sorry guys but this is one of those times where these positive reviews feel like they were paid for bc there is absolutely no way we read the same book. There isn’t a soul alive that can convince me this is good.
The issues in this book were so glaringly obvious and the prose was bad in every way imaginable.
Even if you were somehow oblivious to the complete lack of depth in the characters & storyline, I can’t see how anyone wouldn’t find this extremely boring. Once part 2 started, it was legitimately just a series of walking us through Milow’s monotonous days filled with a whole lot of nothing and repeat conversations talking about nothing. If you’re going to make your characters extremely uninteresting, you cannot have a plot with absolutely NOTHING stimulating in it. I was BORED to tears. Truly.
⇢ Real chemistry or depth? Not a chance.
This felt like it was reallyyyy trying to convince me of this “deep connection” between Milow & Ashby that just did not exist. I felt absolutely nothing for them. The chemistry was NOT there, nor does the relationship feel earned whatsoever. The author having all of the side characters constantly making little comments so early on about noticing their connection felt like another way the author was trying to sell me on their supposed “connection.” How about just SHOWING me they have a deep bond & good chemistry….? Every emotion in this is stated outright instead of being built through character actions or subtext. Our proof for reasons why they love each other is simply “Ashby just gets me.” Where’s the specificities? Why is everything so generalized?? There is nothing unique or compelling about the relationship between these two. NOTHINNNNNG. 😩 I couldn’t even form a real connection to them as individual characters so I found myself really struggling. I would’ve preferred a gradual build to their connection and at least an attempt to show us that on page.
For a story that starts off very sad for our fmc, I felt like this at least suggested the potential for a lot of depth and complexity to come for the characters/story. Unfortunately, I was wrong. All of the characters really lacked depth and were incredibly ONE DIMENSIONAL. Which is crazy because given the circumstances/pasts of both MCs, how is it even possible that they’re so surface-level and lack complexity?? Milow has a very traumatic backstory, yet what we get from her is extremely lackluster and poorly developed. All of the moments that are supposed to generate an emotional response end up falling flat and feel soooo hollow. I could tell it was trying to make me feel something, but just like their relationship, none of it felt earned. You can’t include heavy themes and then neglect the depth & exploration they require. I’m actually still in shock over how surface-level this was!!!
⇢ Personalities, dialogue, & more tell-heavy:
The personalities of every character in this were soooo dull & forgettable. None of them seem to have any characteristics that stick out or help me distinguish them from one another. They could’ve been talking to anyone for all I know and I wouldn’t have been able to tell who was who because they all blended together.
The dialogue in this was so cringeyyyyyyy, unrealistic, and immature. It was so overly performative to the point that I paused multiple times to laugh in disbelief because literally no one would say half of this 💀 Everything about it felt stiff and almost scripted; where none of the interactions that happened felt believable.
There was an insane amount of telling over showing. How am I expected to form any real connection to anyone if you’re just telling me how I’m supposed to perceive them? Because that’s exactly what this entire book did. And to me, it’s incredibly LAZY writing. The author wanted us to love this MC so badly she constantlyyyy has other characters telling us how kind and great she is. I was beyond over it. I actually thought my eyes were gonna roll to the back of my head from how much eye-rolling I was doing. Please let us form our own opinions about a character. Why were characters randomly interjecting things like “she’s a genius with a kind heart” about Milow? Seriously guys, it was ridiculous how much it was reiterated how amazing Milow is when she’s literally just standing there and has done absolutely nothing in the story to warrant these comments 🤣🤣🤣
This is a real conversation that happens:
“‘You’re the coolest, Milow.’
‘And the smartest,’ Stan added, lifting a finger to emphasize his words.
‘And she’s super beautiful, too,’ Scottie said with a grin.
My face turned bright red for the millionth time today. They were being silly.
‘Milow’s just the best,’ Ashby said at last.”
Literally what?? She was just sitting there doing nothing😭 PLEASE - ugh🙄🙄🙄 this happened CONSTANTLY throughout the book and it’s so obnoxious!!! And why do they talk like they’re 12 years old? If the author hadn’t told me these characters weren’t 16-17 years old, I truly would’ve thought they were in middle school.
⇢ Substance & interesting content? No where to be found.
So yeah, on top of all this, absolutely NOTHINNNNG happened in this book. More than 50% of this book is them having conversations about Stan & Scottie’s “relationship problems”? I’m serious, that was the only conversation going on and it was the same conversation over and over and OVERRRR AGAIN. I kept being like, didn’t this just happen last chapter? The lack of variation in even the sentence structure made this a chore to get through. This book was just a constant string of cliches and repetitive dialogue that was so beyond dull I can’t imagine how anyone would find this stimulating whatsoever. You could skip multiple chapters and not miss a single thing.
This is a random complaint, but I wrote this in my notes around the 30% mark so I’m going to include it anyways:
The entire conflict of Aspen throwing herself at Ashby repeatedly and having him reject her multiple times just to show us that he’s only in love with Milow was so cringe and juvenileeeeee lol. It was beyond obvious Ashby wasn’t into her. In fact, he was rude to her on multiple occasions and ur telling me she still didn’t get the hint…? Lollll. I’m sorry it felt so incredibly unrealistic and the fact that the author had Aspen’s character KEEP trying in ways that made her look so bad and embarrassing was just extremely unimaginative. I KNOW we can come up with something else that somehow sells it to us that Ashby only wants Milow.
And the mmc constantly making comments about her wearing too much makeup felt so juvenile. And it also just felt kind of icky.
If I ever see someone try to compare this to Johnny & Shannon again…. LOL no. Absolutely not. I’m calling the POLICEEEE. Do NOTTT disrespect them like that🤣🤣🤣
I know many of you told me to just DNF this and I wanted to so bad, but I didn’t want anyone to be able to dismiss my review because it was a DNF. So here we are LOL.
I can MAYBE understand 3 stars for this book (MAX), but anything higher than that is genuinely shocking. I’d give it less than 1 star if I could because I wanted to dnf so bad.
—————————————————————————————
Review to come and it’s not gonna be pretty 😅
Read
March 22, 2026A NOTE FROM NISSA
The Through the Years series will have multiple interconnected books, with each couple getting at least 2 books. And the way I'll be writing/publishing the books is very focused on the timeline! So, in Close to You, the main part of the book starts in summer and ends in winter. Milow and Ashby's story isn't over yet, and while they had a happy ending, there is still SO MUCH I have planned for them. It was impossible to fit everything into one book, which is why some things haven't been discussed yet. Ashby's past, for example.
The series follows each couple over time, with every book focusing on a (roughly) six-month period of their relationship. Each story captures a distinct phase, so you see how they grow, struggle, and change in that window. Together, the books build a longer timeline, letting you follow the couples "through the years." All the books will overlap in timelines, and there will be familiar moments from different perspectives.
So, when you feel like there are questions unanswered, know that they will definitely be answered in a future book.
Thank you for reading Close to You, and for loving and understanding my characters!
I can't wait to share more stories with you.
Nissa🩵
The Through the Years series will have multiple interconnected books, with each couple getting at least 2 books. And the way I'll be writing/publishing the books is very focused on the timeline! So, in Close to You, the main part of the book starts in summer and ends in winter. Milow and Ashby's story isn't over yet, and while they had a happy ending, there is still SO MUCH I have planned for them. It was impossible to fit everything into one book, which is why some things haven't been discussed yet. Ashby's past, for example.
The series follows each couple over time, with every book focusing on a (roughly) six-month period of their relationship. Each story captures a distinct phase, so you see how they grow, struggle, and change in that window. Together, the books build a longer timeline, letting you follow the couples "through the years." All the books will overlap in timelines, and there will be familiar moments from different perspectives.
So, when you feel like there are questions unanswered, know that they will definitely be answered in a future book.
Thank you for reading Close to You, and for loving and understanding my characters!
I can't wait to share more stories with you.
Nissa🩵
April 25, 2026
I didn’t get the hype 🤷🏻♀️.
Grace’s review.
Grace’s review.
April 7, 2026
my new roman empire.
April 20, 2026
⤿ 💛 ⌗ ★ ★ ★ ¼ ⋮ minor spoilers ⋮ +13
(i think we all have to start to put the age limit because lately kids are reading the most inappropriate books for their age)
໑ৎ my thoughts
this book started so good. it got me hooked, hurt me easily and quickly made me cry. i appreciated the fast pacing until it was too much; because after the 60% or kind of, it all felt too hurried, but at the same time i felt like nothing was happening and we were in this limbo of “i love you”s, hidden kisses and being soft and cute. after that 60% things started to feel weird, a shade of weirdness i couldn’t really explain but i’m glad asia felt that too, so that i hadn’t to struggle to try to explain. now that i have been thinking about it a little while, i think i know what that weirdness was: it’s not shown how they fall in love. it happens slowly, little by little, day by day, month by month, year by year since milow gets adopted from when they finally realize they’re head over heels in love.
we just know that.
i wish we could’ve seen it, and i am a little disappointed there weren’t any kind of flashbacks, because dammit, i want to see how they fall in love, romance is all about it.
also, i have to admit i felt like some scenes were “too much”, a little cringey, like scottie in the hospital, for example. some scenes were very unnecessary, and, i have the feeling if it wasn’t self-published they would've been cut them and it would have been talked about ashby’s past.
overall, this was a nice book--not for everybody--and i’ll continue this series.
໑ৎ characters
🧷໒ milow&asbhy ⋮ cuties. i appriciated very much the two of them: milow is quite relatable (not sure if it’s a good sign) and the sweetest, ashby is a quite excellent book boyfriend (asia and i are die-hard fans of his) and the most friendly dude ever, can’t wait to know more about his past!
🧷໒ stan&scottie ⋮ i have loved these characters so badly. stan is one of the most chaotic main characters that i ever met and scottie is the description of a diva (clock it!!).
i think their book is going to a masterpiece, and i’m so sat for it. i hope this time the author will focus more on the “through the years”
🧷໒ hailie&aspen ⋮ ugh. at first, i used to think putting them in my review would make me lose aura points, but lately i figured aspen out, i think the character will improve in the next books; i’m sorry for what happened to hailie and want to know better about it.
🧷໒ wes&evie ⋮ my favourite characters! the vibes they give are the best, wes is the best older brother ashby and milow could’ve asked for and evie is an older sister milow never had. i love them so much and i really hope they will also get a book!!
໑ৎ a note for asia (in inglese perché è più cool😉)
my favourite bttm stan 🫵🏻 thank you for asking me to buddy read this with youuu, even if this book wasn’t exactly what we hoped it would be, i had so much fun and i cannot wait to read together something else (like stan and scottie’s book hehe)!! ilysm 🥹💞
🫐 ⋮ pre-read ⋆₊˚ ⟡
so ready to dive into a brand-new childhood friends to lovers that will destroy me! 🤗
this time joins the depresso (less espresso) gang my lovely asia!! i can’t wait to share the pain with you and annoy you at every hour because in this book there are literally all my favourite tropes.
April 19, 2026
THEY. ARE. ACTUAL. SIBLINGS.
Sweet home Alabama, this is disgusting. The author falsely marketed this as a foster siblings romance. They are both LEGALLY ADOPTED by the same parents as young CHILDREN. I contacted the author and she said it was ok because “they felt like friends growing up” EXCUSE ME?!
Sweet home Alabama, this is disgusting. The author falsely marketed this as a foster siblings romance. They are both LEGALLY ADOPTED by the same parents as young CHILDREN. I contacted the author and she said it was ok because “they felt like friends growing up” EXCUSE ME?!
April 16, 2026
this was slightly boring but i did appreciate how realistically abuse was potrayed in this book, thus three stars
౿ 🫐 ⊹ ࣪ ˖ preread .ᐟ
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ i have high expectations for this one. i honestly have high expectations for any book that focuses on the conflict of abuse since such a conflict shouldn't be taken lightly and should be portrayed realistically.
i just know i'll love the fmc no matter what but i have no idea about the mmc... i swear to fucking god if he's like johnny from binding 13 i WILL give this book one star no matter how amazing it is.
anyway buddy read with my most favorite ever sara because lmao do you actually think i'll just suffer alone??
౿ 🫐 ⊹ ࣪ ˖ preread .ᐟ
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ i have high expectations for this one. i honestly have high expectations for any book that focuses on the conflict of abuse since such a conflict shouldn't be taken lightly and should be portrayed realistically.
i just know i'll love the fmc no matter what but i have no idea about the mmc... i swear to fucking god if he's like johnny from binding 13 i WILL give this book one star no matter how amazing it is.
anyway buddy read with my most favorite ever sara because lmao do you actually think i'll just suffer alone??
April 23, 2026
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦
╰➤PRE-READˎˊ˗
I think I accidently spoiled it myself by reading someone else's review of this book, and I'm only on the 3rd page but I already feel like I'm gonna shed a few tears...
──── ୨୧ ────
╰➤REVIEWˎˊ˗
Rating: ★★★★☆
Emotional: ★★★★☆
Spice: ★★☆☆☆
Tags: Mutism, Ableism, Child Abuse, Bullying, Sexual Assault
──── ୨୧ ────
Wth? I feel like they left so many things out, which needed to be explained further. It was like they had started off with some serious sub-plots, but didn't give any further context or build it on. Which irritated me and I was wondering when they were going to explain all of this when I was nearing the end of the book... For example: Ashby's childhood or when he's going to tell Milow about it??? And about Hallie's situation at home?? Also what happened with Jasper and Lacey??? And Scottie's sickness???? The last one, I can excuse because it will be explained in the next book. But the rest of these, I don't think they could be explained in detail or not in Milow/Ashby's POV at least. So what was the point of starting them off?
──── ୨୧ ────
Follow for more reviews! 🪼⋆.ೃ࿔*
╰➤PRE-READˎˊ˗
I think I accidently spoiled it myself by reading someone else's review of this book, and I'm only on the 3rd page but I already feel like I'm gonna shed a few tears...
──── ୨୧ ────
╰➤REVIEWˎˊ˗
Rating: ★★★★☆
Emotional: ★★★★☆
Spice: ★★☆☆☆
Tags: Mutism, Ableism, Child Abuse, Bullying, Sexual Assault
──── ୨୧ ────
Wth? I feel like they left so many things out, which needed to be explained further. It was like they had started off with some serious sub-plots, but didn't give any further context or build it on. Which irritated me and I was wondering when they were going to explain all of this when I was nearing the end of the book... For example: Ashby's childhood or when he's going to tell Milow about it??? And about Hallie's situation at home?? Also what happened with Jasper and Lacey??? And Scottie's sickness???? The last one, I can excuse because it will be explained in the next book. But the rest of these, I don't think they could be explained in detail or not in Milow/Ashby's POV at least. So what was the point of starting them off?
──── ୨୧ ────
Follow for more reviews! 🪼⋆.ೃ࿔*
Did Not Finish
March 20, 2026i’m sorry, but i don’t think i can finish this book… i’m 33% in, and while the beginning was quite nice, i already find this book so obnoxious and insufferable.
the author reminds us of the fmc’s insane intelligence every two sentences. not to mention, these chapters are spent with everyone just glazing the fmc continuously in a way that doesn’t even feel authentic at all. the last time i had this was with violet from fourth wing. i’m sorry, but all this constant talk of how amazing the mc is BORES me. i would prefer that you show me!!! rather than tell me constantly oh my god. this kind of writing always feels to me like the author’s either self inserting themselves or is so bad at writing that they have to tell us in the boldest font just how perfect and wonderful their dear character is. stop trying to force me to like your protagonist from
the get go! why won’t you let me form my opinion myself??
not to mention the mmc is SOOOOOOO extremely worried about the fmc. while i like mmcs who worry and yearn for their love, when it’s this overdone it just feels so unrealistic to me. again it feels like they’re trying so hard to sell me their chemistry. stop knocking at my door, im not interested in hearing about our savior and lord jesus christ… i know some people like this and i respect that, but i personally strongly prefer more subtle romances, where you get butterflies and learn to love them through genuine and realistic build up. i don’t like perfect characters. i like flawed people.
my problem with the romance genre in general is that often, it just feels so…inauthentic. like you can often tell that romance authors try so hard to convince you of the pair’s chemistry and the characters in general, which is why romance books are always a hit or miss for me as i often feel like im being sold the characters personalities, stories and vulnerabilities rather than being shown. there is always so much potential which always gets executed rather tragically. unfortunately, this seems to be the case here as well, (of course i can’t speak about the entire book as i only read a third of this, but time is precious, so i’d rather be spending my time reading something i enjoy more.) i’m sad, because the plot actually sounded so amazing to me and it started out well enough, but when they were at this party and there was this common trope of the mean girls with “way too much make up on” and “boobs that looked like they were pushed up”, i got icked off SO bad. please, i beg you all to be more creative and stop shaming girls constantly for wearing make up and dressing freely. i’m annoyed by it because truly, the wattpad era is gone! stop this behavior dude. how about we be girls girls and look for more creative ways to display our character‘s struggles in social settings? of course there are textbook bullies sometimes, but come on. i’m tired of reading about fmcs who are so much better and nicer than all these other women…
i hope i wasn’t too mean, im not trying to insult the author or anything and i believe the author can definitely do some amazing work because clearly she has some amazing ideas - personally i did in some ways like stanley and scottie and also wesley and the mcs, though they were all quite one dimensional from what ive read, but to me, it’s just the execution that is lacking here.
the author reminds us of the fmc’s insane intelligence every two sentences. not to mention, these chapters are spent with everyone just glazing the fmc continuously in a way that doesn’t even feel authentic at all. the last time i had this was with violet from fourth wing. i’m sorry, but all this constant talk of how amazing the mc is BORES me. i would prefer that you show me!!! rather than tell me constantly oh my god. this kind of writing always feels to me like the author’s either self inserting themselves or is so bad at writing that they have to tell us in the boldest font just how perfect and wonderful their dear character is. stop trying to force me to like your protagonist from
the get go! why won’t you let me form my opinion myself??
not to mention the mmc is SOOOOOOO extremely worried about the fmc. while i like mmcs who worry and yearn for their love, when it’s this overdone it just feels so unrealistic to me. again it feels like they’re trying so hard to sell me their chemistry. stop knocking at my door, im not interested in hearing about our savior and lord jesus christ… i know some people like this and i respect that, but i personally strongly prefer more subtle romances, where you get butterflies and learn to love them through genuine and realistic build up. i don’t like perfect characters. i like flawed people.
my problem with the romance genre in general is that often, it just feels so…inauthentic. like you can often tell that romance authors try so hard to convince you of the pair’s chemistry and the characters in general, which is why romance books are always a hit or miss for me as i often feel like im being sold the characters personalities, stories and vulnerabilities rather than being shown. there is always so much potential which always gets executed rather tragically. unfortunately, this seems to be the case here as well, (of course i can’t speak about the entire book as i only read a third of this, but time is precious, so i’d rather be spending my time reading something i enjoy more.) i’m sad, because the plot actually sounded so amazing to me and it started out well enough, but when they were at this party and there was this common trope of the mean girls with “way too much make up on” and “boobs that looked like they were pushed up”, i got icked off SO bad. please, i beg you all to be more creative and stop shaming girls constantly for wearing make up and dressing freely. i’m annoyed by it because truly, the wattpad era is gone! stop this behavior dude. how about we be girls girls and look for more creative ways to display our character‘s struggles in social settings? of course there are textbook bullies sometimes, but come on. i’m tired of reading about fmcs who are so much better and nicer than all these other women…
i hope i wasn’t too mean, im not trying to insult the author or anything and i believe the author can definitely do some amazing work because clearly she has some amazing ideas - personally i did in some ways like stanley and scottie and also wesley and the mcs, though they were all quite one dimensional from what ive read, but to me, it’s just the execution that is lacking here.
April 10, 2026
┆ ⤿ 📖 ⌗ started: april 3, finished: april 5
ⓘ before you read this, please read the trigger warnings. and also know that you are never alone <3
3 stars 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹
⤿ review with some spoilers.
read this with my best friend mads! i'm so glad we read this together and cried about it. i love you forever! 💌⭐️💗
tropes: ⋆˚࿔
.ᐟ friends to lovers
.ᐟ trauma
.ᐟ disability (she is mute)
.ᐟ sports romance
.ᐟ adopted siblings
thoughts: ⋆˚࿔
i had really mixed feelings about this one. there were moments where i was completely hooked, and others where i felt confused or disconnected.
part one, especially, didn’t fully make sense to me. milow’s trauma is so severe, yet it felt unrealistic that there wasn’t a deeper investigation into her father or what actually happened to her. i kept questioning why no one seemed to push further or try to truly understand the extent of what she went through.
part two was definitely stronger for me. i was so much more emotionally invested, and i cried so many times seeing how much milow was bullied. it was genuinely heartbreaking because she didn’t deserve any of it, and the way it was written made it hit even harder.
one of my favorite aspects was the found family. the fact that everyone learned ASL for milow, without her even asking, was so beautiful and meaningful. those moments felt so full of love and care, and they really stood out.
i’ll be honest, the adopted siblings-to-lovers trope didn’t fully sit right with me. it’s something i personally struggle with, but at the same time, their connection was undeniable. they understood each other in a way no one else could, and it was clear they were meant to find their way back to each other.
the ending, though, felt rushed. i still have so many questions, , which left the conclusion a bit unsatisfying for me.
overall, this was an emotional and heavy read with some really powerful moments, but also a few gaps that made it harder to fully connect at times.
── .✦ quotes 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹
“Since you were little, you’ve been inseparable, always orbiting each other without even trying. There’s always been this connection between you that kept pulling you back together, no matter what was happening around you.”
“But as long as I’m close to you, nothing else matters.”
“You know… I’ve always known you were special. From the very first day you became part of our family, something shifted for the better. I was happy before Mom and Dad adopted you, I really was, but you…” He stopped and drew in a shaky breath, his eyes shining now. “You completed us. You filled in the space we didn’t even know was empty. You were the missing piece, and I couldn’t have wished for a kinder or braver baby sister.”
His voice broke when he said my name, and the look on his face made my heart ache. He looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and his jaw clenched like he hadn’t relaxed it once. The worry he’d been holding onto was so obvious on his face, and it hurt knowing that all of it was because of me.
ⓘ before you read this, please read the trigger warnings. and also know that you are never alone <3
3 stars 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹
⤿ review with some spoilers.
“You know… I’ve always known you were special. From the very first day you became part of our family, something shifted for the better. I was happy before Mom and Dad adopted you, I really was, but you…” He stopped and drew in a shaky breath, his eyes shining now. “You completed us. You filled in the space we didn’t even know was empty. You were the missing piece, and I couldn’t have wished for a kinder or braver baby sister.”
read this with my best friend mads! i'm so glad we read this together and cried about it. i love you forever! 💌⭐️💗
tropes: ⋆˚࿔
.ᐟ friends to lovers
.ᐟ trauma
.ᐟ disability (she is mute)
.ᐟ sports romance
.ᐟ adopted siblings
thoughts: ⋆˚࿔
i had really mixed feelings about this one. there were moments where i was completely hooked, and others where i felt confused or disconnected.
part one, especially, didn’t fully make sense to me. milow’s trauma is so severe, yet it felt unrealistic that there wasn’t a deeper investigation into her father or what actually happened to her. i kept questioning why no one seemed to push further or try to truly understand the extent of what she went through.
part two was definitely stronger for me. i was so much more emotionally invested, and i cried so many times seeing how much milow was bullied. it was genuinely heartbreaking because she didn’t deserve any of it, and the way it was written made it hit even harder.
one of my favorite aspects was the found family. the fact that everyone learned ASL for milow, without her even asking, was so beautiful and meaningful. those moments felt so full of love and care, and they really stood out.
i’ll be honest, the adopted siblings-to-lovers trope didn’t fully sit right with me. it’s something i personally struggle with, but at the same time, their connection was undeniable. they understood each other in a way no one else could, and it was clear they were meant to find their way back to each other.
the ending, though, felt rushed. i still have so many questions, , which left the conclusion a bit unsatisfying for me.
overall, this was an emotional and heavy read with some really powerful moments, but also a few gaps that made it harder to fully connect at times.
── .✦ quotes 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹
“Since you were little, you’ve been inseparable, always orbiting each other without even trying. There’s always been this connection between you that kept pulling you back together, no matter what was happening around you.”
“But as long as I’m close to you, nothing else matters.”
“You know… I’ve always known you were special. From the very first day you became part of our family, something shifted for the better. I was happy before Mom and Dad adopted you, I really was, but you…” He stopped and drew in a shaky breath, his eyes shining now. “You completed us. You filled in the space we didn’t even know was empty. You were the missing piece, and I couldn’t have wished for a kinder or braver baby sister.”
His voice broke when he said my name, and the look on his face made my heart ache. He looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and his jaw clenched like he hadn’t relaxed it once. The worry he’d been holding onto was so obvious on his face, and it hurt knowing that all of it was because of me.
Want to Read
April 3, 2026🎐⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⟢ I keep seeing this popping up all over my Goodreads feed, and now I really want to know what the hype is about. Honestly, the cover is gorgeous, simple but it just grabs you, and the artwork is stunning. From what I can tell so far, I’m already loving the two main characters, especially the female lead. I mean, she’s holding a book, so of course I’m sold. And apparently, everyone says it’s a childhood friends-to-lovers story, which is one of my favorite tropes. I’m ready to jump in because I’ve missed these kinds of stories.<𝟑 .ᐟ
March 20, 2026
➳ 4 ☆! 🫐 spoiler free + mini review
⤷ probably my fav book of the month so far! SO GOOD EVERYONE TRY ITT!
⋆˚࿔ 27th review of the year
₊‧꒰my thoughts꒱‧₊ 🦢
⤷ wow ok. i've been seeing this book a lot on booksta and was instantly intrigued! the cover is stunning and i love supporting new/debut authors 💌 this seemed right up my alley too. coming of age, EMOTIONAL romance?! sign me up. the author is also just the sweetest ever so i enjoyed reading her book 🥹 for 500 pages, i FLEWWWW thru this! her writing was very nice and there were parts where i teared up (happy and sad) i loved the first 100 pgs getting to see milow grow up. HER PARENTS. OH MY GOSH I LOVE THEM 😭
⤷ i wont say more bc i recommend going in blind, but PLEASE check tws!! anyway, i loved our two characters a lot + cant wait to read about other couples in this series! my biggest takeaway was milow and how she dealt with forgiveness. oh shes such a good example + role model i LOVE HER SO MUCH 😭
⤷ i recommend this to everyone! it is also 100% spice free. my only qualm is that there were some questions i want answered from their pov which i will put in the spoiler section below!
dont click if you havent read 💌
🫂| overall i hope more people read this so we can all yap! i also wonder if we'll get more of this couple as the series goes on?! i feel like there's MUCH more to say. 🙌
"i think the right people are worth standing in the storm for."
"she let it pass, like it wasn't worth the space in her head. it was fascinating seeing how she always chose calm over bitterness, and that quiet kindness of hers was exactly what made me so proud of her."
------------
₊‧꒰3.17.26꒱ ‧₊
⤷ HAPPY RELEASE DAY AHHH!!! im literally so happy i finally have my hands on this. funny story.. i thought this was a cute lil rom com. ITS NOT. but oh i am in for a treat 😭🩷 im alr flying thru it so fast. i cant wait to share more thoughts but just know... i may be recommending this to every single person soon 🧘♀️
⤷ probably my fav book of the month so far! SO GOOD EVERYONE TRY ITT!
⋆˚࿔ 27th review of the year
"she wasn't built to carry resentment. she felt deeply, but she never clung to hatred. there was too much love in her for that. too much compassion that stretched even toward people who never deserved it."
₊‧꒰my thoughts꒱‧₊ 🦢
⤷ wow ok. i've been seeing this book a lot on booksta and was instantly intrigued! the cover is stunning and i love supporting new/debut authors 💌 this seemed right up my alley too. coming of age, EMOTIONAL romance?! sign me up. the author is also just the sweetest ever so i enjoyed reading her book 🥹 for 500 pages, i FLEWWWW thru this! her writing was very nice and there were parts where i teared up (happy and sad) i loved the first 100 pgs getting to see milow grow up. HER PARENTS. OH MY GOSH I LOVE THEM 😭
⤷ i wont say more bc i recommend going in blind, but PLEASE check tws!! anyway, i loved our two characters a lot + cant wait to read about other couples in this series! my biggest takeaway was milow and how she dealt with forgiveness. oh shes such a good example + role model i LOVE HER SO MUCH 😭
⤷ i recommend this to everyone! it is also 100% spice free. my only qualm is that there were some questions i want answered from their pov which i will put in the spoiler section below!
dont click if you havent read 💌
🫂| overall i hope more people read this so we can all yap! i also wonder if we'll get more of this couple as the series goes on?! i feel like there's MUCH more to say. 🙌
"you dont have to be fearless. being scared or nervous is part of life. just dont let the fear make the decisions for you."
"i think the right people are worth standing in the storm for."
"she let it pass, like it wasn't worth the space in her head. it was fascinating seeing how she always chose calm over bitterness, and that quiet kindness of hers was exactly what made me so proud of her."
------------
₊‧꒰preview ᝰ.ᐟ꒱ ‧₊ 🫐
₊‧꒰3.17.26꒱ ‧₊
⤷ HAPPY RELEASE DAY AHHH!!! im literally so happy i finally have my hands on this. funny story.. i thought this was a cute lil rom com. ITS NOT. but oh i am in for a treat 😭🩷 im alr flying thru it so fast. i cant wait to share more thoughts but just know... i may be recommending this to every single person soon 🧘♀️
April 24, 2026
3.75 ⭐️ Not a 6 star like I intially thought, but omgggg I have a feeling when this series is complete I'm going to be a shell of a person. This book was so so so good, I cried for at least a Third of it with everything Milow went through, it was hard to stomach at times.
I do feel like even tho we got deep rooted trauma, and the LOVE between milow and Ashby was so strong and connected the writing felt slightly underwhelming at times and a tab bit repetitive with certain lines being repeated just in a different format, but I do think this author has talent and as she cont. this series it's just going to get better and better. Overall, I lovedddd this book just some slight hiccups in the writing style made me drop my rating. Pls if you consider reading this tho, check the TW. Protect your mental health I loveeeee you guys!!! 💕💕💕💕
The found friendship in this book was actually top tier, and I was so sad when I realized I have to wait for Scotty and Stan's book 🥹🥹🥹🥹
I do feel like even tho we got deep rooted trauma, and the LOVE between milow and Ashby was so strong and connected the writing felt slightly underwhelming at times and a tab bit repetitive with certain lines being repeated just in a different format, but I do think this author has talent and as she cont. this series it's just going to get better and better. Overall, I lovedddd this book just some slight hiccups in the writing style made me drop my rating. Pls if you consider reading this tho, check the TW. Protect your mental health I loveeeee you guys!!! 💕💕💕💕
The found friendship in this book was actually top tier, and I was so sad when I realized I have to wait for Scotty and Stan's book 🥹🥹🥹🥹
March 20, 2026
★★★
── 3 stars !! ˚🗝 ⋆｡
⤿ spoilers marked┆ ⋆˙⟡
this was...boring.
which is weird bcs this was such an anticipated release for me and it just fell so short in every way 😭
i will admit the starting was great. intriguing even.
nessa really nailed the child voice, the immature thoughts and feelings of a little girl who didn't know any better to the T but idk as the story progressed, it just kept like ... declining? almost the same topics were repeated like every chapter, making it drag so much towards the middle, which then piled a ton of shit in the end.
˚⊱🪷⊰˚ milow
milow was great. i liked her a lot but i feel like her trauma was... idk, downplayed? it felt weird that she was abused for all those years and there was no mention of any flashbacks or any sort of trauma in part 2 until it was actually revealed which was weird bcs one does not forget shit like that easily. plus the whole thing with hailie really pissed me off bcs
˚⊱🪷⊰˚ ashby
ashby was well...bland. don't get me wrong, he was sweet and caring and protective and all, but i saw no real romance between them? is that weird since this was literally a romance book? his character honestly felt like a side character ngl and then all he ever thought about was protecting milow and looking at milow and everything milow. which sounds amazing for a few pages, sure, but please, we need characters to have a functioning brain that process normal life and thoughts apart from the fmc too. and then all his trauma.
˚⊱🪷⊰˚other characters
stan and scottie were cool but they had no real depth tbh. the whole point of stan was to be a goofy empty head kinda person and the whole point of scottie was being the girl that resisted him and it was...meh.
jesper was actually an amazing character, ngl. loved him the most.
˚⊱🪷⊰˚overall thoughts
i feel like the author was heavily inspired by binding 13, which was very evident in a few scenes and topics, esp ashby and stans bromancs which i could tell was heavily aiming for johnny and gibsie level of friendship but again... it fell short. same with scottie and stans relationship (which was probably aiming for gibse and claire?) like sure scottie and stan are gonna be a couple but we did not need to make half the book about them, which was exactly how it felt. there was no real point to most of the side characters as well bcs like i said, they showed no real depth.
the reason this was still a three star read is because it got me out of my (new books) slump and despite being bored a lot, i actually enjoyed some of it? lmao i probably sound crazy but yk those books that are nice to read but aren't perfect? it was kinda like that 🤭
overall, i genuinely believe that this book had so much potential to be great but its just that the execution of it wasn't great which was the main reason it fell short.
── 3 stars !! ˚🗝 ⋆｡
⤿ spoilers marked┆ ⋆˙⟡
this was...boring.
which is weird bcs this was such an anticipated release for me and it just fell so short in every way 😭
i will admit the starting was great. intriguing even.
nessa really nailed the child voice, the immature thoughts and feelings of a little girl who didn't know any better to the T but idk as the story progressed, it just kept like ... declining? almost the same topics were repeated like every chapter, making it drag so much towards the middle, which then piled a ton of shit in the end.
˚⊱🪷⊰˚ milow
milow was great. i liked her a lot but i feel like her trauma was... idk, downplayed? it felt weird that she was abused for all those years and there was no mention of any flashbacks or any sort of trauma in part 2 until it was actually revealed which was weird bcs one does not forget shit like that easily. plus the whole thing with hailie really pissed me off bcs
˚⊱🪷⊰˚ ashby
ashby was well...bland. don't get me wrong, he was sweet and caring and protective and all, but i saw no real romance between them? is that weird since this was literally a romance book? his character honestly felt like a side character ngl and then all he ever thought about was protecting milow and looking at milow and everything milow. which sounds amazing for a few pages, sure, but please, we need characters to have a functioning brain that process normal life and thoughts apart from the fmc too. and then all his trauma.
˚⊱🪷⊰˚other characters
stan and scottie were cool but they had no real depth tbh. the whole point of stan was to be a goofy empty head kinda person and the whole point of scottie was being the girl that resisted him and it was...meh.
jesper was actually an amazing character, ngl. loved him the most.
˚⊱🪷⊰˚overall thoughts
i feel like the author was heavily inspired by binding 13, which was very evident in a few scenes and topics, esp ashby and stans bromancs which i could tell was heavily aiming for johnny and gibsie level of friendship but again... it fell short. same with scottie and stans relationship (which was probably aiming for gibse and claire?) like sure scottie and stan are gonna be a couple but we did not need to make half the book about them, which was exactly how it felt. there was no real point to most of the side characters as well bcs like i said, they showed no real depth.
the reason this was still a three star read is because it got me out of my (new books) slump and despite being bored a lot, i actually enjoyed some of it? lmao i probably sound crazy but yk those books that are nice to read but aren't perfect? it was kinda like that 🤭
overall, i genuinely believe that this book had so much potential to be great but its just that the execution of it wasn't great which was the main reason it fell short.
![Profile Image for asiaonlyreadstuffshelikes [semi-ia].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1769607453i%2F181489859._UY200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
Read
April 18, 2026I'm confused about this. RTC!
‧˚ʚ 𝑝𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 ꒰𖦹｡🫐⋆°✰꒱
reading this with emmaaaa 🌷🤍 thank you for agreeing to this br with me, ily so much xx 💐
I'm so excitedddd to start it🤭 (let's pretend I'm not already a quarter of the book in...)
but yeah the plot sounds so interesting but painful at the same time and I can't wait I'm so curious! ✨
‧˚ʚ 𝑝𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 ꒰𖦹｡🫐⋆°✰꒱
reading this with emmaaaa 🌷🤍 thank you for agreeing to this br with me, ily so much xx 💐
I'm so excitedddd to start it🤭 (let's pretend I'm not already a quarter of the book in...)
but yeah the plot sounds so interesting but painful at the same time and I can't wait I'm so curious! ✨
April 11, 2026
⋰˚☆ 1 (DNF)
ೃ⁀➷
I couldn’t bring myself to finish this book. It was actually horrible, irrational, and poorly executed. In particular, the dialogue left me in agony. It was painfully cringey - to the point when I find myself lashing continuously just to get through it. I really didn’t want to DNF this book because I really wanted to see what the hype was about, but I couldn’t even bring myself to read part two to see if the story somehow improved.
My biggest issue is the authors choice of the plot, and what was built around it: the vocal cords. Are you serious? Milow, our fmc, had her vocal cords deliberately ruined by her abusive father. This felt like such an extreme unnecessary plot hole. It felt like it was suppose to come across as a shocking twist rather than something meaningful.
I honestly think a diagnosis like selective mutism would have been a much more grounded and respectful direction. Instead, the author’s choice felt distasteful, especially considering the already heavy themes. The repeated trauma the FMC experiences—particularly involving her father—was already enough to carry emotional weight. Adding this on top of it didn’t deepen the story; it just made it feel excessive and uncomfortable.
Overall, this just didn’t work for me at all. How unfortunate.
ೃ⁀➷
I couldn’t bring myself to finish this book. It was actually horrible, irrational, and poorly executed. In particular, the dialogue left me in agony. It was painfully cringey - to the point when I find myself lashing continuously just to get through it. I really didn’t want to DNF this book because I really wanted to see what the hype was about, but I couldn’t even bring myself to read part two to see if the story somehow improved.
My biggest issue is the authors choice of the plot, and what was built around it: the vocal cords. Are you serious? Milow, our fmc, had her vocal cords deliberately ruined by her abusive father. This felt like such an extreme unnecessary plot hole. It felt like it was suppose to come across as a shocking twist rather than something meaningful.
I honestly think a diagnosis like selective mutism would have been a much more grounded and respectful direction. Instead, the author’s choice felt distasteful, especially considering the already heavy themes. The repeated trauma the FMC experiences—particularly involving her father—was already enough to carry emotional weight. Adding this on top of it didn’t deepen the story; it just made it feel excessive and uncomfortable.
Overall, this just didn’t work for me at all. How unfortunate.
April 11, 2026
„You have a beautiful mind, and even more beautiful soul, Milow.“
4.75/5 stars
Wow. Going into this, I didn‘t have that high standards. But this was so, so good! I somehow love books that make me happy and sad at the same time. This was such a heartwarming story with an unbelievable good found family aspect. I literally missed this book before finishing it.
Glad to say I found a new comfort series! 🪻💫
Characters (they were all so incredibly well-written and lovable. I would like to hug everyone of them):
Milow:
She was so pure! Literally too good for this world. I really, really admire her way of finding love in everything 💞. I also really liked how her inability to speak was portrayed. It was so clearly to see how she sometimes felt as if she were in a cage, and how happy it made her when someone learned her “secret” language with her or for her. And her perspective was very well written in my opinion.
Ashby:
Oh, how much I understand him. His guilt, his struggles with pressure. He always was there for everyone he loved, and when he loved someone, he loved them with his whole heart 💘
Scottie (spoiler included in this character‘s description):
She was so kind to Milow, to basically everyone she loved. She and Stan had such a special bound, and I‘m so excited for their story. (I also have to find out what illness she has ASAP‼️)
Stan:
Ohh my shaylaaa. You‘re just perfect the way you are. 🥹 You‘re enough for Scottie, and you‘re loveable. So supportive and caring, even tho it doesn‘t always show because of your impulsiveness.
I mean we didn‘t get to know if he was super insecure about his personality(but he often felt bad about it), but I have a feeling we‘ll maybe get to know more about that in the next book.
Jasper:
Uhh I‘m so excited to get to know more about him. I want to know why he seemed somehow sad. He was so sweet!! 🥲😊😍
Wesley (and Evie): Such an amazing big brother!! And Evie was so kind as well. Maybe we‘ll get a book of them?? 🤭
Gus & Iris:
Loved them. Such good parents !! They made Milow feel so welcome and as the reader, you felt so welcome as well, somehow.🥹🥰
The first part, when Milow and Ashby and Wesley were little, was actually my favorite part!! 💐🌸🌟
I just don‘t get Why didn’t Gus and Iris take the kids to therapy? They all needed it. Badly!!
„Wherever you're goin’, I'm goin' that way (The same, the same)“ - Moon River, Frank Ocean 💫🎶
Romance:
Ashby and Milow were literally JohnnyShannon in a different font. I recommend this book to every boys of tommen stan in general.
They were just the perfect match and so adorable and warm and caring and good for each other!!! 💜
What I disliked:
I think the book should‘ve been longer. Or there should be a sequel about them. I really thought there would be a second book about the two of them, because there was so much left out!!
There wasn’t even a scene where they told their parents about the relationship. I need that heartwarming family moment so badly—I love this family (dynamics)!!
And I think Ashby’s healing process—dealing with the pressure and his past—could have been explored much better and in more detail.
I also would have liked to see how their relationship develops in college. I would have loved to have that in the next book. I would also have been interested to see what Milow decides to do for a career.
I‘m sorry, but if I‘m being honest, this story felt incomplete.
Conclusion:
Such a heartwarming book!! Definitely sad some times and you should check the trigger warnings, but for me, this just was such a good read. 🌟 sadly it wasn‘t unforgettable, but i just had auch a warm feeling while reading.
My playlist for them 🎧🕯️: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4dD...
(I hope the link works? If not, please comment and I‘ll just write all the songs down here!!)
Pre-read:
Preparing for a sad story with an adorable romance 🌟❤️🩹 found this one because of those bookish tiktok-snippets on pinterest with a gutwrenching scene 💔
4.75/5 stars
Wow. Going into this, I didn‘t have that high standards. But this was so, so good! I somehow love books that make me happy and sad at the same time. This was such a heartwarming story with an unbelievable good found family aspect. I literally missed this book before finishing it.
Glad to say I found a new comfort series! 🪻💫
Characters (they were all so incredibly well-written and lovable. I would like to hug everyone of them):
Milow:
She was so pure! Literally too good for this world. I really, really admire her way of finding love in everything 💞. I also really liked how her inability to speak was portrayed. It was so clearly to see how she sometimes felt as if she were in a cage, and how happy it made her when someone learned her “secret” language with her or for her. And her perspective was very well written in my opinion.
Ashby:
Oh, how much I understand him. His guilt, his struggles with pressure. He always was there for everyone he loved, and when he loved someone, he loved them with his whole heart 💘
Scottie (spoiler included in this character‘s description):
She was so kind to Milow, to basically everyone she loved. She and Stan had such a special bound, and I‘m so excited for their story. (I also have to find out what illness she has ASAP‼️)
Stan:
Ohh my shaylaaa. You‘re just perfect the way you are. 🥹 You‘re enough for Scottie, and you‘re loveable. So supportive and caring, even tho it doesn‘t always show because of your impulsiveness.
I mean we didn‘t get to know if he was super insecure about his personality(but he often felt bad about it), but I have a feeling we‘ll maybe get to know more about that in the next book.
Jasper:
Uhh I‘m so excited to get to know more about him. I want to know why he seemed somehow sad. He was so sweet!! 🥲😊😍
Wesley (and Evie): Such an amazing big brother!! And Evie was so kind as well. Maybe we‘ll get a book of them?? 🤭
Gus & Iris:
Loved them. Such good parents !! They made Milow feel so welcome and as the reader, you felt so welcome as well, somehow.🥹🥰
The first part, when Milow and Ashby and Wesley were little, was actually my favorite part!! 💐🌸🌟
I just don‘t get Why didn’t Gus and Iris take the kids to therapy? They all needed it. Badly!!
„Wherever you're goin’, I'm goin' that way (The same, the same)“ - Moon River, Frank Ocean 💫🎶
Romance:
Ashby and Milow were literally JohnnyShannon in a different font. I recommend this book to every boys of tommen stan in general.
They were just the perfect match and so adorable and warm and caring and good for each other!!! 💜
What I disliked:
I think the book should‘ve been longer. Or there should be a sequel about them. I really thought there would be a second book about the two of them, because there was so much left out!!
There wasn’t even a scene where they told their parents about the relationship. I need that heartwarming family moment so badly—I love this family (dynamics)!!
And I think Ashby’s healing process—dealing with the pressure and his past—could have been explored much better and in more detail.
I also would have liked to see how their relationship develops in college. I would have loved to have that in the next book. I would also have been interested to see what Milow decides to do for a career.
I‘m sorry, but if I‘m being honest, this story felt incomplete.
Conclusion:
Such a heartwarming book!! Definitely sad some times and you should check the trigger warnings, but for me, this just was such a good read. 🌟 sadly it wasn‘t unforgettable, but i just had auch a warm feeling while reading.
My playlist for them 🎧🕯️: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4dD...
(I hope the link works? If not, please comment and I‘ll just write all the songs down here!!)
Pre-read:
Preparing for a sad story with an adorable romance 🌟❤️🩹 found this one because of those bookish tiktok-snippets on pinterest with a gutwrenching scene 💔
March 26, 2026
When he doesn’t want to use his voice because he found out her vocal cords were surgically removed by her abusive dad:
𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦," 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺.
"𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
[𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺.]
5 stars! ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
(Spoiler~free)
I CANNOT.
This book had everything I NEEDED to get me out of this little reading slump I was in, and overall I have NO criticism on this whatsoever, because the more I think about it the more I’ve come to love these characters. 🥹🫶🩵🩵🩵
~‘𝘈 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.’
This book is for the Boys Of Tommen fans, who find comfort in the sadness but love a good found family trope with a good friend group 😭😭🫶
(Everything I neeeed)
Milow!!! 😩 My sweet girl.
She is one of my new favorite fmc’s I’ve read, already from the first two chapters alone I immediately said
“THIS GIRL NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS.”
And I stood by that the ENTIRE TIME 👏
And Ashby 💚💚🥲
The most gentle mmc I’ve read. 🫂
He’s the epitome of a hug as a person if that makes sense 😭
He STOOD by for Milow since they were kids and the way he is so patient, and is SO PROTECTIVE 🙏👏
Not only does Milow have her own traumas but so does Ashby, which I hope we could focus on more with the next book?? 👀 definitely want to know more about him 🥲
All the side characters I ADORED.
Also need to know more about Scottie & Stan. 🧍♀️💔
Because what.
I love love their dynamic and the complexity of it, I’m all ears for them and CANNOT wait for their book. 📖
💕i definitely connected with this book more, given the author Nissa Renzo, who’s the absolute sweetest person. I knew at some points she was writing these scenes from experience which only made me 100 times more emotional! And yet made me so protective and emotionally attached to these people 🥲🫶
Whatever she writes next, will be added to my cart no matter what 😩👏
DID NOT DISAPPOINT. PLEASE READ.
🌟Rating: 5/5
📚Age Rating: 16+ (check trigger warnings!)
🔥Spice: 0/5
🎧Playlist:
~Close To You~Gracie Abrams
~Seven~Taylor Swift
~Its Nice To Have A Friend~Taylor Swift
~Cowboy like me~Taylor Swift
~New Year’s Day~Taylor Swift
~Safe & Sound~Taylor Swift
~gold rush~Taylor Swift
~Sidelines~Phoebe Bridgers
~We’re Going To Be Friends~The White Stripes
~Take my Hand~Matt Berry
~Fix You~Coldplay
~Nothing’s gonna hurt you baby~Cigarettes after sex
~You’re Gonna Go Far~Noah Kahan
~We’ll Never Have Sex~Leith Ross
~Fine Line~Harry Styles
💌Favorite Quotes:
~[𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.]
"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸," 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. "𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴.”
𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦," 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺.
"𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
[𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺.]
5 stars! ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
(Spoiler~free)
I CANNOT.
This book had everything I NEEDED to get me out of this little reading slump I was in, and overall I have NO criticism on this whatsoever, because the more I think about it the more I’ve come to love these characters. 🥹🫶🩵🩵🩵
~‘𝘈 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.’
This book is for the Boys Of Tommen fans, who find comfort in the sadness but love a good found family trope with a good friend group 😭😭🫶
(Everything I neeeed)
Milow!!! 😩 My sweet girl.
She is one of my new favorite fmc’s I’ve read, already from the first two chapters alone I immediately said
“THIS GIRL NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS.”
And I stood by that the ENTIRE TIME 👏
And Ashby 💚💚🥲
The most gentle mmc I’ve read. 🫂
He’s the epitome of a hug as a person if that makes sense 😭
He STOOD by for Milow since they were kids and the way he is so patient, and is SO PROTECTIVE 🙏👏
Not only does Milow have her own traumas but so does Ashby, which I hope we could focus on more with the next book?? 👀 definitely want to know more about him 🥲
All the side characters I ADORED.
Also need to know more about Scottie & Stan. 🧍♀️💔
Because what.
I love love their dynamic and the complexity of it, I’m all ears for them and CANNOT wait for their book. 📖
💕i definitely connected with this book more, given the author Nissa Renzo, who’s the absolute sweetest person. I knew at some points she was writing these scenes from experience which only made me 100 times more emotional! And yet made me so protective and emotionally attached to these people 🥲🫶
Whatever she writes next, will be added to my cart no matter what 😩👏
DID NOT DISAPPOINT. PLEASE READ.
🌟Rating: 5/5
📚Age Rating: 16+ (check trigger warnings!)
🔥Spice: 0/5
🎧Playlist:
~Close To You~Gracie Abrams
~Seven~Taylor Swift
~Its Nice To Have A Friend~Taylor Swift
~Cowboy like me~Taylor Swift
~New Year’s Day~Taylor Swift
~Safe & Sound~Taylor Swift
~gold rush~Taylor Swift
~Sidelines~Phoebe Bridgers
~We’re Going To Be Friends~The White Stripes
~Take my Hand~Matt Berry
~Fix You~Coldplay
~Nothing’s gonna hurt you baby~Cigarettes after sex
~You’re Gonna Go Far~Noah Kahan
~We’ll Never Have Sex~Leith Ross
~Fine Line~Harry Styles
💌Favorite Quotes:
~[𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.]
"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸," 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. "𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴.”
May 5, 2026
i don’t know how to feel about this yet, so if i keep changing my rating, just ignore me 🤧 rtc!!
𐔌 . ⋮ pre-read 🫐 .ᐟ ֹ ₊ ꒱
i’ve had my eye on this one for the longest time, and it finally feels like the right moment to pick it up. especially with the news that it’s getting traditionally published. 🎊
i’m so excited to finally get into nissa renzo’s writing… not even going to mention how high my expectations are 🙂↕️
𐔌 . ⋮ pre-read 🫐 .ᐟ ֹ ₊ ꒱
i’ve had my eye on this one for the longest time, and it finally feels like the right moment to pick it up. especially with the news that it’s getting traditionally published. 🎊
i’m so excited to finally get into nissa renzo’s writing… not even going to mention how high my expectations are 🙂↕️
April 6, 2026
⋆˙⟡ — 4 stars
⤷⊹ started: april 3, finished: april 5
i didn't expect to cry that much 😭 rtc!!
— ⋆˙⟡ pre-read 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹
happy april cuties!! 💐 i’ve seen ellie talk about this a lot, so obviously i had to check it out 🤭 this book seems like it’s going to break me and i can’t wait 😌 and ofc i'm reading this with my bestie har!! i love you so much babes and i can’t wait to yap about these two 🙈💗
⤷⊹ started: april 3, finished: april 5
i didn't expect to cry that much 😭 rtc!!
— ⋆˙⟡ pre-read 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹
happy april cuties!! 💐 i’ve seen ellie talk about this a lot, so obviously i had to check it out 🤭 this book seems like it’s going to break me and i can’t wait 😌 and ofc i'm reading this with my bestie har!! i love you so much babes and i can’t wait to yap about these two 🙈💗
Currently Reading
April 21, 2026ᯓ★ Pre-read
I got FOMO…😔🤚
I got FOMO…😔🤚
May 3, 2026
4.75🌟
(Changing to 4.75 bc I CANNOT STOP THINKING ABOUT THEMM I miss my babies 😭😭)
I have SO many thoughts (buckle up guys. Rant time)
GUYSSS THIS WAS SO GOOD!! With all the comparisons, I DESPERATELY need to read Binding 13 😩
I want this to be spoiler free, so I won’t say the full depth of my thoughts- but just know: I’m very curious on what happened to Hailie. And I have my theories but I really hope that my questions are answered in the second book. Also, idk if everyone got the bonus chapter but SCOTTIE?! I need to know. Also the second book isn’t even in GR yet and I need it now….this is going to be an agonizing wait 😭😭
MILOW! My sweet, sweet girl 🥲I loved her so much and she did not deserve anything that happened to her. The chapters at the start explaining her childhood made me stare at the wall. What her dad did to her…It’s awful what was done to her and she’s so strong for still being kind and giving people forgiveness even when they don’t deserve her.
ASHBYYYY 🥰 he was the sweetest with Milow. I’m desperate for his backstory and I’m so excited to see it In the next book. Their relationship was genuinely so sweet and I loved their quiet moments together 🥹
Scottie & Stan…Otherwise known as the couple I’m desperate for. Granted, there isn’t many others but STILL. The tension was amazing and I just loved their characters together as well as separate. I loved how Scottie never took shit from anyone and stood up for herself and I love how Stanley is never afraid to express his feelings and always being himself.
I’m also so excited for Jasper. I loved him with my whole heart, he is the sweetest and one of my favs. He stuck with them through and through and he is such an amazing friend. I hope he gets a book 🙃
Also- what the helly was that with Bennet? I was genuinely gagged, like I liked you?? Anyway.
**also just wanted to mention Wes and Evie because I genuinely fell in love with them. I don’t think they’re getting a book since they’re already together but you never know…
Here are some amazing quotes by Milow and Ashby 😍
(Also he literally calls her “sweet girl” when he found out he didn’t have a nickname for her 🥰)
"I like her. I think I'll be her best friend if she wants me to be." THIS WAS WHEN THE WERE KIDS OMG I LOVE THEM
“I didn't think I was wise. I just felt things deeply, loved without restraint, and retreated into my mind when my emotions grew too loud.” heh…so where are the cameras??
“My love for Milow wasn't something I could just say out loud. Not now. Maybe not ever. I didn't know how she felt, and her feelings mattered more than anything. We were best friends. We had grown up together, shared every moment, no matter how small or big. We were each other's safe space. And that was everything to me. She was everything to me.” Ya this quote broke me and I actually had to share it with my sister because I couldn’t NOT 😅😅
“[I don't ever want you to stop talking, because your voice is the most beautiful thing I get to hear every day.]” ya so Milow said this. I actually freaking love her she’s amazing and what I hope I can be to other people.
[You're silly.]
"Silly, huh?" His grin returned. "I don't care what you call me, as long as you still call me your boyfriend." WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS S.C.R.E.A.M.I.N.G 🤭
Guys I actually need the next book immediately. I’ve been in a tiny slump and didnt want to read anything but I finished this in I kid you not two days. I flew through it. It was unputdownable and I found myself wanting to read when I was not at home. I loved this story so much and I’m sooooo excited to figure out all of the unanswered questions from this one and also
read stories about the other couples 🫠🫠
I have a feeling that when the series is complete or the next book comes out it’s going to be a favorite
(Changing to 4.75 bc I CANNOT STOP THINKING ABOUT THEMM I miss my babies 😭😭)
I have SO many thoughts (buckle up guys. Rant time)
GUYSSS THIS WAS SO GOOD!! With all the comparisons, I DESPERATELY need to read Binding 13 😩
I want this to be spoiler free, so I won’t say the full depth of my thoughts- but just know: I’m very curious on what happened to Hailie. And I have my theories but I really hope that my questions are answered in the second book. Also, idk if everyone got the bonus chapter but SCOTTIE?! I need to know. Also the second book isn’t even in GR yet and I need it now….this is going to be an agonizing wait 😭😭
MILOW! My sweet, sweet girl 🥲I loved her so much and she did not deserve anything that happened to her. The chapters at the start explaining her childhood made me stare at the wall. What her dad did to her…It’s awful what was done to her and she’s so strong for still being kind and giving people forgiveness even when they don’t deserve her.
ASHBYYYY 🥰 he was the sweetest with Milow. I’m desperate for his backstory and I’m so excited to see it In the next book. Their relationship was genuinely so sweet and I loved their quiet moments together 🥹
Scottie & Stan…Otherwise known as the couple I’m desperate for. Granted, there isn’t many others but STILL. The tension was amazing and I just loved their characters together as well as separate. I loved how Scottie never took shit from anyone and stood up for herself and I love how Stanley is never afraid to express his feelings and always being himself.
I’m also so excited for Jasper. I loved him with my whole heart, he is the sweetest and one of my favs. He stuck with them through and through and he is such an amazing friend. I hope he gets a book 🙃
Also- what the helly was that with Bennet? I was genuinely gagged, like I liked you?? Anyway.
**also just wanted to mention Wes and Evie because I genuinely fell in love with them. I don’t think they’re getting a book since they’re already together but you never know…
Here are some amazing quotes by Milow and Ashby 😍
(Also he literally calls her “sweet girl” when he found out he didn’t have a nickname for her 🥰)
"I like her. I think I'll be her best friend if she wants me to be." THIS WAS WHEN THE WERE KIDS OMG I LOVE THEM
“I didn't think I was wise. I just felt things deeply, loved without restraint, and retreated into my mind when my emotions grew too loud.” heh…so where are the cameras??
“My love for Milow wasn't something I could just say out loud. Not now. Maybe not ever. I didn't know how she felt, and her feelings mattered more than anything. We were best friends. We had grown up together, shared every moment, no matter how small or big. We were each other's safe space. And that was everything to me. She was everything to me.” Ya this quote broke me and I actually had to share it with my sister because I couldn’t NOT 😅😅
“[I don't ever want you to stop talking, because your voice is the most beautiful thing I get to hear every day.]” ya so Milow said this. I actually freaking love her she’s amazing and what I hope I can be to other people.
[You're silly.]
"Silly, huh?" His grin returned. "I don't care what you call me, as long as you still call me your boyfriend." WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS S.C.R.E.A.M.I.N.G 🤭
Guys I actually need the next book immediately. I’ve been in a tiny slump and didnt want to read anything but I finished this in I kid you not two days. I flew through it. It was unputdownable and I found myself wanting to read when I was not at home. I loved this story so much and I’m sooooo excited to figure out all of the unanswered questions from this one and also
read stories about the other couples 🫠🫠
I have a feeling that when the series is complete or the next book comes out it’s going to be a favorite
April 6, 2026
ugh idk how to feel about this one
April 13, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
If you weren’t sobbing while reading this, did you even read it at all?? this book was definitely an emotional roller coaster.
Although I absolutely loved this book, I think their backstory needed to be more in depth as some mentions were a bit unresolved? I had soooo many questions and not enough answers.
I absolutely cannot wait for scottie and stan’s book (had me double checking the book release😞) and don’t get me started on iris and gus…. their story is definitely needed.
milow and ashby, you deserve the world💙🤎
“I’d protect Milow. Always, and with no hesitation.”
I miss them already😭❤️🩹
If you weren’t sobbing while reading this, did you even read it at all?? this book was definitely an emotional roller coaster.
Although I absolutely loved this book, I think their backstory needed to be more in depth as some mentions were a bit unresolved? I had soooo many questions and not enough answers.
I absolutely cannot wait for scottie and stan’s book (had me double checking the book release😞) and don’t get me started on iris and gus…. their story is definitely needed.
milow and ashby, you deserve the world💙🤎
“I’d protect Milow. Always, and with no hesitation.”
I miss them already😭❤️🩹
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