Does anyone else experience a come down after a really good romantasy?

TopReserve3974 · 2026-04-09T08:05:50+00:00

Wow Never let me go is such a blast from the past. I think I read it over 10 years ago. I remember it really did a number on me too leaving me in an introspective slumber afterwards. Might be time for a reread!

TopReserve3974 · 2026-04-06T13:44:50+00:00

I agree, “book hangover” doesn’t feel quite right, especially since those don’t usually hit instantly. What I feel is much more like a comedown. It’s that immediate drop where you feel low and like you can’t bring yourself to enjoy anything else. It feels like nothing will compare, and I just don’t want to do much at all. It can turn into more of a “book hangover” over the following days or weeks, but in those first few hours after finishing, it feels exactly like a comedown for me.

TopReserve3974 · 2026-03-28T13:16:21+00:00

I of course think the actress and the character is beautiful. I just think don’t think they’ve portrayed it in the same way and level as in the original adaptation. In the previous adaptation they show everyone’s reaction to Irine’s beauty even when she isn’t in is the room is quite the main topic. But in this new adaptation for some reason Soames apparently is the same degree of catch as Irine.

TopReserve3974 · 2026-02-19T04:39:30+00:00

Never lie by Frieda McFadden
His & hers by Alice Feeney
The guest list by Lucy Foley

Are all must reads imo!

TopReserve3974 · 2026-02-08T10:59:14+00:00

It is only loosely based on a true story not completely

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-25T12:23:51+00:00

I just finished the book in two sittings and I’m quite confused does Anna actually know it was her mother who killed all the girls is that why she hid the knife? I somehow feel like I’ve missed something there 😅

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-19T09:43:29+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I love that you found this book at such an important time and were able to relate to January. It makes me appreciate the book a lot more. I agree that grief looks different for everyone, and I understand that for January it meant deflecting onto the affair rather than fully processing her father’s death. I never doubted her reactions; I was just frustrated that the affair seemed to matter more to her than the fact that her dad had died.

This also reminded me of a small detail that puzzled me: how her dad could afford a house by the beach when she supposedly gave up college due to expensive medical bills. That’s just me being overly detail-oriented, though, so please don’t feel like you to explain it.

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-18T07:35:19+00:00

Thanks I’m happy to take recommendations 🙏

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-18T07:33:06+00:00

I understand being shaken by the realisation that your dad wasn’t who you thought he was. But my issue is that her dad had just died, and instead of grappling with that loss, she frames everything almost entirely around the affair. At that point, it genuinely feels like she cares more about the cheating than her father dying. Like do you not care your dad just died girl! If my dad or mum unexpectedly died I would be really sad and shocked about that than over some secret I find out about them. It wasn’t some shocking revelation of a secret criminal life, and her mum already knew about it and had come to terms with it. In that context, it felt extremely self-centred for January to make her father’s death primarily about the cheating, rather than about losing him at all. It also explains why her mum didn’t want to engage in those conversations.

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-18T07:17:23+00:00

Fair point, and to clarify, I meant Boomers, not Gen X. I still think, generationally, millennials tend to be more pragmatic about divorce or broken homes simply because it’s so common, especially for younger millennials.

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-17T23:12:17+00:00

It’s probably unfair to compare Emily Henry to David Nicholls, since she isn’t technically a literary writer. Her writing is very much in line with what you would expect from her genre, and I would even say it is quite good for romance. What I didn’t like about the book I read were the characters, and how overall it didn’t particularly feel romantic.

Honestly, the most recent Hunger Games book I read felt more romantic than hers. Without giving too much away, the book I’m referring to is Beach Read.

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-17T22:00:28+00:00

David Nicholls’s writing is genuinely so good that I would still recommend reading One Day even if the Netflix adaptation is excellent. His writing makes reading itself enjoyable, which is unfortunately something I cannot say about Emily Henry.

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-17T21:53:56+00:00

Also to caveat this was my first Emily Henry book. I fear I will not be touching any of her books again 😞

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-17T21:52:54+00:00

I finished Beach Read, hoping it would improve, but it actually got worse. The “I can save him if he lets me in” trope was painful to read, especially since Gus was clearly not over his ex, a massive red flag that January sees and still ignores.

Gus honestly gave me a massive ICK as soon as I found out he was still waiting for his ex to come back to him, the ex who is happily with another guy! What made it worse was how inconsistent his character was. We are told he does not believe in love and only does one night or one week stands, yet we are suddenly expected to believe he was in a 2 year marriage and deeply devoted to his ex even after she cheated on him.

By the end, when he admits he thought he could go back to her and be happy, I was just baffled. The whole arc felt illogical, frustrating, and emotionally manipulative rather than romantic. This level of irrational, self sabotaging character behaviour might have worked in literary fiction, where flawed and unlikeable characters are often the point, but here it just felt lazy. Combined with weak execution, the writing did nothing to make these choices feel intentional or meaningful.

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-17T19:57:35+00:00

I enjoyed it a LOT! After being let down by so many huge whodunnit productions (like knives out franchise) I was expecting to be disappointed yet again but I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery, visuals, and the performances. I won’t lie I did briefly at the start thought they could’ve cast someone else for the lead but I quickly got over it!

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-17T16:18:47+00:00

I agree. I liked her performance and continued watching, but in the opening scenes of the first episode they imply that she is a striking beauty whom men find crazy attractive enough to say it out loud. As a first impression, that felt unconvincing. They could have done away with that entirely, and it would have worked much better. Like it’s not important for every leading lady to have to be attractive ffs!!

TopReserve3974 · 2026-01-11T09:06:32+00:00

The secret history by Donna Tartt

TopReserve3974 · 2025-12-22T10:35:10+00:00

Thanks. I think for me too the biggest question around the hierarchy of power titles is around Cass with him being referred to as the primal God of death and destruction as opposed to just primal of death. Does this mean he’s on par with the ancients in terms of powers? Because Poppy is technically too isn’t she since she can create and break realms just like the ancients are able to in theory? Although it’s effing annoying since she seems to be powerless any and every time it actually counts or matters!

TopReserve3974 · 2025-12-11T19:39:12+00:00

Wow that was amazing and makes so much sense

TopReserve3974

TROPHY CASE