The Sweetest Fiend

I enjoyed the middle of the book, the beginning and end not so much. The beginning was super slow and a little hard to get through. I felt like I was reading about Esti in her aunt’s paper mill / on her way home for so long even though it was probably like a chapter really. There’s so much we don’t know about the fmc, like despite her father being a bane, we don’t know who he is (even though her mom must know?). Then the story finally got interesting when the piper is introduced. Of course, there’s immediately a connection between the piper and Esti. ||This reminds me of all the times I’ve seen people make fun of Romantasy fmcs for being upset they’re taken somewhere they don’t want to be and try escaping and antagonizing the mmc every chance they get. Except it’s a little justified here since Esti is stolen from her mom and aunt, and they don’t know what’s happened to each other. And of course the Piper is slow to reveal is actual altruistic motives. || The different plagues as the antagonist of the story was pretty intriguing and how they’re trying to combat it. I also enjoyed that early on when we learn about Esti’s ex boyfriend she’s completely over him and actually realizes how terrible he is and is glad that they’re not together, even though she was hurt by his actions. Towards the middle / end of the book it felt too insta love-y though, ||and it turns out they’ve been attracted to each other all along, just both denying it. Then the romance gets layer on super thick, and a lot of the lines, especially in spicy scenes are super cringe, ie “He looks like honey I went to lick.”||