"Candy Cane" felt like a bit of a whirlwind! It was over almost as soon as I started reading, but it's worth mentioning it's an episodic series of stories so each may be a little like this. This fit the overall vibe of the story too, as it's told from the perspective of a teenage girl who constantly overthinks. The author certainly made the story feel organic overall, really capturing Winter's inner voice, even while the rest of the setting captured the outrageous and unrealistic parties akin to teen movies from the early 2000's. I'm interested to see where the story goes and look forward to the next installment, especially as there's something "extra" natural going on.

I give this one 3 because I was interested in reading more, but there's so much story missing as it's a small piece of the bigger puzzle.

I was really hoping this book was going to be as good as the description but unfortunately it just didn't. I also don't see were the other episodes will be released/written.

A new drug is spreading through Veramor High School.
The pill is red and white, Some call it the Drug of Love but most call it CANDY CANE.
There’s some instructions and warnings that come along with taking the drug, so be careful to follow the instructions and be prepared for the after effects.
The concept of this book is totally new for me and I don’t think another author has done this before. This book is split into 9 parts for it to be read like episodes in the hopes that it is consumed and contemplated as one might a television season. I really admire the author for trying something new, I feel like this concept could go one of two ways. It will keep the readers hooked and waiting for the next ‘episode’ to come out or it will put readers off and they won’t read at all. I think the main problem with this is we don’t know how long between each ‘episode’ there will be.

Is the writing amazing? No, but I liked the mystery aspect of this book to try to read the next part. There were many characters to try to keep up with for the start of a story and with a lot going on it was quite hard to keep up with who’s who. I’m not sure at which age this is aimed at but I found the writing very YA but not sure on the topic for YA.

Love a short, episodic novella series! This one, about a love drug called Candy Cane, is wild and fun. Winter is relatable as the yearning, self-conscious, white-haired heroine. The vibe is young love and twisted humor, told with novelty text. Witty banter and dark themes hold promise, and I can't wait to read the next in the series!

The more I read, the better it became. Just wish I could read all the episodes. I found myself relating to Winter in some ways, but really don't like her 'best friend.'

Writing was really bad & hard to understand/ get into. I fear the authro was trying too hard to be differnet and it didn't work out in their favor.

I couldn’t get into this book . The writing was horrible. I hate saying that . I only got through the first pages and had to stop .

DNF — the writing inthis was super strange and after seeing multiple other bad reviews I’ve decided it’s not worth finishing.

I like how the books are broken up into episodes, and I think the story line is interesting. However, I had a hard time following along with the way it was written. I did not like the characters, and I could not relate to the way they talked.


I received an e-arc from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review.

This is a great read if you're looking for a quick read! I enjoyed reading it and I'm curious to see how it all turn out in the next episodes!

Thank you Netgalley and bold soul books for this arc.

Candy cane by but gottfred
The premise of the book has a unique quality to it.
I liked the episode like story telling, but I did not enjoy the main character. Her narration sounded so much younger she was 16 but sounded like a preteen also disliked how she went back and forth on her opinion and actions. Positive was that it was a quick and easy read.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this book!

I enjoyed this! I liked the writing style and it moves at a quick pace which I liked! I'm excited for the next episode (book) in the series! Special Thank You to B.T. Gottfred, bold soul books and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Beware of possible spoilers.

This book has such an interesting concept, but it needs a deep edit to get it where it should be.

I understand the idea behind the episodes and, in fact, I really like that. However, the parts need to be bigger and they should read as a television show. The reader should be able to watch it all unfold as if they're truly watching it on a screen. As it stands, the book is missing far too much detail and is written far to juvenile to gain that sort of response.

The writing is, like I said, too young sounding. And even then, I have never met a child who talks like this. When I first started the book, I was under the impression the main character was already on the drugs. Hence the drawn out words and short, quick, almost manic sentences. Then, I discovered that this was just the way the character talked. It doesn't read well, and the character is lacking ways for the reader to connect to them and take them seriously.

There are also several things in this book that just aren't dealt with properly as a few people have already mentioned before.

I hope that the author has a chance to go back and change things before this book is published. I truly believe it could be interesting, but right now...it just doesn't work.

I found this book to be a bit fragmented, the scenes were short and I would have liked a them a bit longer to have the flow a bit better.

I understand what the author was going for here with splitting the book into "episodes", but unfortunately this part was too short to truly garner interest to continue with the series. Candy Cane was not my favourite read, and the main character is not someone that is easy to resonate with or relate to. The plot seems interesting and there is potential for the premise, but unfortunately this book seems to fall short for me.

The first episode, broken up into short chapters to feel like episodes of a tv show however it's hard to grasp full details because there isn't much in each chapter to continue off of.
Winter has never been in love but she desperately wants to be. She comes across a love pill, they call it candy cane, it's supposed to make a couple madly in love. She didn't try it but her friend did and it definitely did something for her and her boyfriend. We also find out the origin of this pill.

Ty for NetGalley and publishers for the ARC copy

This follows seventeen year old Winter OBSESSED with boys and trying to find love with her long time crush.

I reeeeeally don't like being critical of something someone worked so hard on, but the main character was really cringy. I understand it was set in TV format, however, it was incredibly short, leaving with more questions than answers.

Reading this felt like I was reading a 13 year old's really cringy diary entry where all characters are Mary Sue's and "typically gorgeous".

This is just the first 'episode' in the candy cane saga and you get just a little snippet into what you can expect.

Winter has never been in love but she desperately wants to be. She comes across a love pill, they call it candy cane, it's supposed to make a couple madly in love.

She didn't try it but her friend did and it definitely did something for her and her boyfriend.

We also find out the origin of this pill.

So we don't get any conclusions here but I feel its enough to decide if you want to continue and I have to say I am interested in reading the next episode.

Candy Cane - Episode One starts with an interesting idea: a mysterious new drug in high school. But the story doesn't really take off. The main character, Winter, is supposed to be in high school, but she acts more like a middle schooler. It's weird. And her obsession with this other dude, Zacharias, is kind of creepy.

The book is divided into short chapters, like a TV show, but it doesn't work very well. Each part is too short to really get into the story. Plus, there are some serious topics like bullying and drugs, but they're not handled very well.

I wanted to like this book, but it's hard to care about the characters. I hope the next episodes are better, but I'm not sure I'll read them.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital review copy.

From reading the description on the back of the book, it seemed like an intriguing read. Reading the first 60 pages does bring you back to those feelings of first love and the jitters of high school scene. Winter you can relate to very much. Her thoughts are almost on what every girl has. I wanted more on the story on what the book described it would be. Since the book is in parts I hope it dives more into the candy cane drug and what it happens. Looking forward to reading the parts when comes out. It does make you want to read the other books to find out what happens.