Characters

The characters felt very flat to me and I did not connect with the main character Olivia (Olive). I found her pushy and annoying. I felt like it would’ve been better to dive into some of the emotions the characters were feeling, or even having different points of view could’ve helped.

Plot/setting

The plot for this book was VERY simple and predictable, I didn’t vibe with it. The premise of the novel had potential to be good but it basically just shared ‘important’ plot points only and basically nothing else.

Now the setting itself wasn’t bad, just poorly executed. There were a lot of missing parts to me. I was also SO confused with the layout of the town? I feel like it wasn’t explained very well but had potential to be cool.

Writing

This book read way more like a middle grade novel than a young adult book. The writing was WAY too simple and was overall just very basic. It could do with some more complex writing.

I also didn’t click with the dialogue, it felt very flat and was overall cringy in my opinion. The time jumps didn’t make sense and I felt like the book needed more in between moments.

This was interesting concept; a cozy sci-fi mystery in a post-apocalyptic setting where a flood has destroyed most of Earth and appears to have largely frozen over. However, the overly simplistic prose reads more like a middle-grade title than YA, which affected my rating. I’d definitely recommend this for sixth-to-ninth grade, but I wouldn’t call it YA.

This..... needed to go through a few more rounds of editing, I fear. Also, it's very hard for ARC readers to give an extensive review if we only get to read a percentage of the book. I was very disappointed when I realized such a big chunk of the book was missing, as that warning wasn't anywhere. I personally would not have requested this ARC had I known.

This novel holds a ridiculous amount of hope and love! While there were a handful of grammatical errors, including heavy word repetition, and some issues with cohesive worldbuilding, the plotline had a lot of promise and the romance was precious. It's always lovely to see LGBTQ+ characters in healthy, happy, and lasting relationships. This novel is filled with an abundance of hope and love! Although there were a few grammatical errors and instances of repetitive wording, as well as some challenges with cohesive worldbuilding, the plot had a lot of potential, and the romance was heartwarming. It's always wonderful to see LGBTQ+ characters engaged in healthy, happy, and lasting relationships.

Edelweiss is one of my favorite reads this month alone. Was such a good experience! I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and the characters are fantastic.

Valiant effort at world building and queer storytelling. I would classify this as a novella given the pace and page count of this tale.

Thank you to Lloyd Hall and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

delweiss is set in a futuristic semi-dystopian society. It follows the story of teen Olivia as she settles into her life after moving to the big city of June with her family. She starts to unravel mysteries in town with the help of her new friend.

This story blends cozy science fiction with a sapphic teen romance, which gives it the potential for a lovable cozy read. However, the writing reads a bit younger than YA and often tells rather than shows the reader. I also didn’t realize this book was the third in its series until starting it, but it holds up as a stand-alone read.

The most exciting part of this book was Olivia's sense of adventure. She turned every opportunity into an adventure and sought to solve mysteries, taking her all over town. That being said, I would have liked to have seen more character growth with the characters.

The plot is fast-paced, but often feels unrelated to the main storyline. Some of the decisions and motivations of the characters felt strange or rushed.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read. The characters were interesting, and the worldbuilding felt unique. I think if more time were spent on developing the characters and plot, it could be a great book; however, in its current state, it does feel closer to an early draft.

Thank you, Lloyd Hall and NetGalley, for the ARC!

This is a cute YA book with a PG Sapphic Romance and a sifi plot of discovery. With a lession on listening to the boundaries of your partner and a mystery hundreds of years in the making. This book pulled me in and wrapped up nicely the art in each chapter is gorgeous silhouette style black and white drawing I have not read Lloyd Halls work before but this cute story got me to buy the first book in this series of stand-alones, Wardenclyffe. While I am an adult I would recommend this book for ages 10 and up for anyone who likes sifi mystery.

thank you to netgalley for the arc

so my sleep schedule is bad and I can’t really summarize my thoughts rn and I will forget if I don’t do it now so I shall copy paste my lil notes app commentary I’ve been making below. def spoilers but what’s there to spoil really idek what happened

- tells instead of shows
- She’s a documenter. And it kind of shows in the prose she just kind of reacts and isn’t super active, nor has a strong narrative voice. Like if I read a chapter how do I figure out it’s her? No discerning features at 40% done
- I think the dialogue could really benefit from conjunctions and slang to sound like teens talking. Nothing crazy but again the dialogue isn’t rlly distinct from the prose
- I keep forgetting what her name is
- I like the pictures
- When the plane boots up and suddenly they want to rescue the red coat lady,,, I didn’t feel like she deserved that reaction. They’d been talking w her for like fifteen mins total and she’d been a bitch the whole time
- This book needs like 100 more pages to flesh out the issues
- Holo recorder is seemingly in place mostly to examine her thoughts and add word count
- I’m confused on why Ava said their relationship was too much for her. Besides the oopsie kidnapping idk why she’s not sympathetic? Idk these characters aren’t super fleshed out idk what they’re all abt
- I wish Kai was more of a major character. Or that Olivia had real friends. There really aren’t side characters that interact/affect the story. Maybe the mom could count
- “Her lips feel soft and familiar” beloved you’ve had one kiss ever like,,, how do you even know hers feel familiar she’s just your baseline
- God the ending is just fluff!! What the heck

I think this book has a lot of potential but it very much feels like an early draft. The characters and writing feel much more middle grade than young adult. I also felt the writing was very surface level, there was a lot just outright told to the reader rather than showing and letting the reader come to their own conclusions. I felt a bit like my hand was being held throughout the story and I was being led through every plot point.

The romance also felt extremely rushed, there were brief mentions of Olivia having the budding crush but nothing seemed to be reciprocated beyond platonic affection by Ava until suddenly they were kissing. I didn’t feel any connection or investment in the relationship as it didn’t feel like there was much of a relationship to root for. Everything felt very sudden with little to no build up.

The plot also seemed a bit all over the place. I feel like half the book was spent in various random adventures that didn’t really seem relevant and then suddenly everything comes together all at once in what seems to be a last ditch effort to tie everything together. I would’ve enjoyed more build up and foreshadowing to the final plot point, it seemed to mostly just come out of nowhere and just coincidently be tied to the other events of the book.

Overall, the seeds of a good story are there, everything just feels a bit rushed and unpolished.

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

The world of Edelweiss fascinates me. A familiar place made strange by time and the effects of climate change, mysterious tunnels beneath an ordinary-looking city. New, otherworldly crystal growth that could quickly cause an epidemic. All of this being explored by high-schoolers, which gives the story a naïveté and fresh perspective. The illustrations lend a sense of whimsy to a dark story, and I appreciated the touch.

Edelweiss takes the time to tackle a more and more prevalent question: can AI be considered human? Is it murder to remove an android’s power source, or just like switching a battery from one TV to the next?

I do wish there was a little more on the androids after Saffron. Did they stay around June? Were they chased out? Shut down? That storyline had a promising start, but ultimately felt dropped.

The ending felt a bit rushed, but hopefully that means it will continue in a later installment. All in all, Edelweiss introduced me to a fascinating place, plot, and characters, and I’m interested to see what Hall writes next.

Firstly, this is my first arc I’ve ever received and was so thankful and excited to read this book! The book is about a girl who comes to a new town called June, meets a friend, and from there they seem to unravel some mysteries through this town. This sounded very good to me, and the plot is definitely there! I personally wished that the pacing was a bit slower as it just felt like the writing was too fast, and I also wished there were more descriptive elements to the writing. The writing did feel a little immature, like there was something lacking, but nonetheless I applaud the author for coming up with a plot that is very unique and interesting.

‧₊˚✧2.5 ✧˚₊‧

I was triggered to read this book by its description. It got my expectations up, but sadly they weren't entirely met. I wanted to like this better, but had quite some issues with it, which I will point out later in this review.

First I want to lay out a bit what the story is about. We follow a girl named Olivia who moves with her family to the city of June for her father's job. At school she instantly connects to Ava who she quickly befriends, with more growing between them in the background. Together they go on adventures. At first for a school project, but soon they follow behind a mysterious figure in a red coat. Will they unravel the secret June holds?

This story is set in a futuristic world, but isn't necessarily 'high-tech' as you might expect. For example: there are androids in the story, but they aren't evolved to do more than menial tasks it seems. The librarian on the other hand had to fill in a ledger manually to loan Olivia a book from the library. I did think the author had a lot of potential worldbuilding-wise, but for me personally it fell a bit flat. I have no idea how big that holorecorder is either, but I’m guessing girls have more pocketspace in this futuristic world than in real life.

The character of Olivia didn't totally click with me either. She has quite a brash personality, instantly just expecting Ava to come with her to an event on the first day they meet. As if she just walked up to her, pointed at her and declared they were now friends. The relationship between Ava and Olivia feels a bit rushed as well. I have no idea what their ages should be but I feel like the date thing wouldn’t be in there so fast. I think it would have had more impact if it wasn't a romantic relationship and more a platonic one, and I say this as a big supporter and part of the queer community. In this story it feels a bit like it needed to be that just for the sake of it, sadly.

The story leaves a lot of unanswered up in the air at the end of it. If you don't like that kind of stuff, be warned. It wasn't an ending with closure.

I also still found some mistakes in my version of the book (which was an eARC).
“There are incredible,” I say, crumbs falling out of my mouth. --> These instead of there?
“… It’s connected back to the gird.” --> Grid?

I do want to end on a positive noted and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to see illustrations in some of the chapters in this book. I quite liked that extra visual material to support the story.

I was honoured to receive this book as an eARC for an honest review. I want to thank Netgalley and Lloyd Hall for this opportunity. As always I hope this story finds its intended audience, as it wasn't totally my cup of tea!

This was a cozy, quietly intense read with a soft queer romance at its core and just enough sci-fi weirdness to keep things interesting. Olivia and Ava’s relationship feels sweet and real, even as they stumble into conspiracy and danger beneath the snow-covered town of June. It’s a great mix of heartfelt and eerie, with some solid mystery pacing. A little more depth in the worldbuilding would’ve made it even stronger, but overall, this is a lovely and thought-provoking story.

Edelweiss blends romance and mystery in a way that’s gentle and reflective. I enjoyed the emotional depth and the touches of suspense that carried through the story. The relationship dynamics were compelling, and the mystery added a nice layer of intrigue.

That said, the pacing felt a bit slow for me, and overall, it wasn’t as engaging as I’d hoped. While the story had its strong moments, it didn’t fully hold my attention throughout.

Still, readers who enjoy a quieter, more introspective mix of romance and mystery might find this a satisfying read.

I enjoyed this book and think that others will too. While I didn’t realized it was the third in a series, I was able to pick up and grasp the story just fine.

I loved Olivia’s character arc and the representation within the story.

Edelweiss is so cute and fun. The illustrations are whimsical and beautiful. It's adventure, romance,
and mystery in one. I wish a book like this featuring girls falling in love in this cool and fascinating sci-fi setting existed when I was young. I also didn't read the first 2 books in this series, but it wasn't noticeable to me while reading it, however I'm definitely interested in reading them after finishing this book.

It's about a young girl that has to move around a lot cause of her father's research and sees a mysterious woman in red doing strange things around town, and a budding friendship thats a bit more than that with Ava who she drags along to explore and go on adventures.

I thought the characters were interesting, this world and the way things are in the future and uncovering what happened in the past that was lost to history sucks me in. I also enjoy that this is a book someone as young as middle school age could read and enjoy but also someone thats a adult like me in my 30s can love enjoy this story.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Actual rating 1.5⭐️

So... I'm pretty confused. On Goodreads it says that the book is supposed to be 278 pages, but what I received from NetGalley was 139 pages.
This was just a mess for me... I didn't understand much, the writing was messy, I didn't care for the characters and they were so incredibly childish that I honestly thought they couldn't be more than 8-9 years old... but that would be crazy!

I apologize, I missed that this book was the 3rd within a series. I have not read the other books, and likely will not be purchasing them. If this can be read as a stand-alone I’d love for someone to reach back out at let me know!
However if it isn’t, I can not properly give feedback, I apologize.

In all honesty, I did like this very much.

I also like that title. Matches the vibes that this book gives out.

Tq truly for this opportunity