
Member Reviews

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".

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.

From reading the description I was really excited to read this.
Although this was a good book, and does has some potential in the next books or rather episodes,it just didn’t end up being for me and I was starting to struggle reading it.

Amazing character development. Love the plot line will definitely recommend to friends and family. Amazing book

I couldn’t vibe with the narrative voice in this. There were so many missing pronouns etc which was purposeful for the MC’s voice but it just really put me off. I also didn’t realise it was ‘episode one’ and not the full length story.

I want to begin by stating that I was given the opportunity to read this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. While i initially felt bad about leaving a bad review, upon realising that the author does not have the book listed under his name (but all the others in the series) I would assume its to silence the readers, so i no longer feel that way.
This read as a 13 year old girls Y/A fan fiction from Wattpad. Needless to say it was cringe to the levels of My Immortal but far less iconic. Our main character is Winter Elise Diamond, she has white hair, an obsession with a very average man and wears jeans instead of skirts because she’s not like other girls. “You are a woman that stands out amongst the all the girls wearing their ridiculous skirts in this weather."
There is just undertones of everything:
- racism: “Nearly every culture south or east of America could claim him.”
- sexism: “Only guys (and girls on the softball team) liked beer pong.”
- slut shaming: *several instances*
- emotional incest: “And the only boy I had ever met that was as special as my dad was [Love interest]”
If that wasn’t enough for you Winter is in fact different, she is jealous of her crushes little sister. There is a lot to unpack there so we’ll move on. How about the fact the author let sexual content happen in front of said 13 year old.. moving on. She wants to drug her crush… moving on. Her best friend abuses her boyfriend but it’s okay because she can make it hurt more? No moving past that.
It the way of the authors writing style
F
A
I
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I just couldn't get into this book. I liked that it was broken up into parts but I don't think it worked for this book.

While reading this I did find myself confused a couple times. The plot was very good and I was invested in reading.

This book reads in episodes like a tv show.
We follow Winter struggling and looking for love.
Not sure the narrative was that of a sixteen-year-old it sounded younger.
I found the book quite confusing and difficult to follow and disjointed.
Good idea but not for me.

I hate to be mean to someone’s hard work. But this was AWFUL. I was so excited about the prospect of the synopsis. But it was extremely underwhelming. Also the episodic type of book isn’t a great idea at least with this story.

*Thanks netgalley for a free arc in exchange for an honest review about this book*
I understand the author's intentions as to why it was broken up into "episodes" as it was, however it didn't really make me want to buy the other "episodes". There wasn't enough *meat* to the story to keep me hooked as 85 pages isn't enough to get a really good story going in my opinion. The writing was confusing to me and brought me out of the story, and the main character wasn't really likeable and there were contradictions throughout regarding the main character. It didn't grab my attention. Although the premise to the story sounds intriguing and new. I was confused by the last 10-12 pages.

2.5🌟
(I received an e-arc from netgallery and am voluntarily leaving this review)
This was...... something.
Not sure how i feel about this.
It was weird but i think that's the whole point.
This feels like an intro to a bigger idea. I just wish the execution was better because I HATED the main character. She was annoying and i have Never seen anyone talk like that.
I would like to read the next one and give it at least 1 more chance.
I like that this is divided into short episodes of sort.