Flaire

Short and simple: I loved this. It made me feel and I could relate.

I really enjoyed listening to this on audiobook. I had been putting off reading this for a while, not really sure why, but glad I finally picked it up. I enjoyed the narration, I enjoyed the story, and I always enjoy retellings of classics, add in the unique perspective of being told mostly by Achilles prize slave, made this book a win for me.

I'm still feeling pretty mixed about Little Fires Everywhere as I write this review. I enjoyed it, definitely so that means it gets 4 stars. I have a sort of love for slow moving books about family dynamics so that checked a lot of boxes for me.

There are some emotional situations in this book that really get you thinking and as a woman who hopes to adopt in the future, they really hit home. But I don't necessarily side with the adopters or the birth mothers in this book. This book shows a true emotional account about how these things are rarely black and white and I really appreciate it.

My one upset from this book? I wish we got some more of Izzy right at the end. But I do understand the emotional power of leaving the book with Mrs. Richardson and her thoughts about Izzy instead.

Honestly this book was pretty underwhelming compared to the first. The first wasn't perfect, but it had real potential and I was excited to go into this one. It really let me down as I was bored pretty much 80% of the book. August went through some weird character change and I wasn't interested in him at all most of the book.

Also talking about the kiss for a moment. Just before it happened I was thinking to myself how nice it was that this series didn't force a romance that didn't seem to fit just for the sake of every teen fantasy having a romance and then the kiss... so there went that.

The ending was actually decently written to me though sad. I like where August and Kate ended up in their final scene together as it felt like the most authentic and real part of the whole story to me.

I enjoyed this a lot. Really liked both August and Kate. The world seems very interesting. However the book didn't wow me enough to get that final star from me. And this is the kind of book I wish he pictures because I had a little bit of a hard time imagining some of the creatures, though that's a personal problem probably and didn't effect my rating.

This was still cute and funny as always. I do enjoy hearing more of the incorrigible's adventures. However, the full series plot is starting to drag a little so that lowered the rating for me.

This was great! A perfect wrap up to the original trilogy. I don't have a whole lot to say since it's the third in the series and I don't want to write spoilers, but loved both mysteries, loved Stevie, and loved all her friends.

I'm beyond excited that we will get to see more of Stevie in the upcoming stand alone case “The Box in the Woods”!

This is one of the best series I've read in a while, I mean I actually have each book at 5 stars and that pretty much never happens.

Just as a good as the first. No, maybe better! Love this author's portrayal of anxiety, feels quite similar to my own experiences. The mysteries in these books keep me hooked.

I really enjoyed this! In the last few years I found in very picky about the YA I enjoy. There tends to be very immature characters with needless drama that just annoys me in YA a lot of time but I heard such good things about this I had to pick it up. I LOVED it! It kept me thinking, and I still am. I love a good mystery and a boarding school with a tragic past so Truly Devious delivered. Can't wait to pick up the next one in the series.

I listened to this on audiobook and really liked the narration by Kate Rudd.

So this is my second Julia Quinn book and I decided to read it because of the hype of the new Netflix show of course. I'm so beyond disappointed. I was actually really enjoying this book, I thought the couple was cute and it was a decent lighthearted read to listen to on my drive to work. But then then the author ruined it. I could look past Daphne getting suddenly ridiculously naive about sex despite being portrayed as more knowledgeable than most women due to her brothers throughout the book. But I can't get past the scene where she doesn't let Simon pull out. At this point they've been fighting about having children or not and so when he's drunk Daphne decides to take advantage of Simon. Already a red flag that had me cringing, but he seems to get into it, and I get it lots of people do enjoy having sex while drunk, fine... but then she knowingly stops him from pulling out and tries to force having a baby on him. This is in no way okay. I can't believe how many reviewers below are justifying this action and saying it's fine because they are married. I know marriage was treated differently in history than modern times, but I'm personally not interested in reading about toxic abuse portrayed as a romance. I've also since seen that the Netflix adaptation has kept this scene in so I will be skipping that as well sadly.

Honestly this was adorable. I can see why it's a children's classic.

This was actually pretty adorable! I bought it on a whim when I saw it on sale for just a couple dollars, and didn't expect much outside a cool cover but I was pleasantly surprised.
This was a cute adventure tale, loved the different characters and the uniqueness of monster land. And everything wrapped up nicely for me too.

The only thing I knocked of a star for was Abigail's storyline. I felt it needed a lot more detail than it had to be worth being part of the book honestly.

I'm not sure how I feel about Stephanie's character yet. She's a little all over the place, and I'm not sure if she's the most believable in how she reacts to everything. She annoyed me multiple times throughout reading. But the overall plot was entertaining and the scenes with Morelli were always fun so I'll probably try the next book and see if she grows on me.

I read through this pretty quickly. It wasn't bad per say, but the whole thing was highly predictable and I don't believe it will leave a lasting impression in my mind. For a 400 page book I feel kind of like not much happened. The first 3/4ths of the book was pretty much just Kate living her normal life. Overall I think this one will be fairly forgettable for me.

Update:

Came back and lowered this because none of this story stuck with me. Found myself reading the synopsis to figure out what this book on my read shelf was.

This was so good! Just as interesting as the first one for me, it didn't have that middle book of a series slump you so often see. Loved how much background and detail of the world we got in this book and loved learning so much more about the Thunderhead.

This was a great read! I would have finished it all in one day if I hadn't been reading it along with someone else. So I forced myself to take it slow.

I felt like it was a quick read that kept me consistently interested. The podcast transcript element was really neat to see since podcasts like this really do exist and suck in a wide audience. I found it interesting to contemplate what that must feel like for the family of the victim. I had some guesses as to who the killer might be, and the final reveal wasn't too big of a surprise to me, but it was for the main characters in a way that felt real. I appreciated that.

All and all I'd give it 4 stars, knocking off one since the ending felt a little rushed to me. And personally I wish there was some satisfying karma that could have made it to Poppy... but then again I suppose that's life.

I told myself I wouldn't DNF this one so it wouldn't become the second King book I didn't finish this year (the first one being “The Institute”) Plus this one was so short and I was listening to it on audiobook so I felt I could push through.

I didn't really care for it. The main character annoyed me from beginning to end... your facing an unknown dangerous end of the world scenario and all you can think about is sleeping with another woman trapped with you? While your wife is in who know's what danger herself?

Beyond that the writing style of this book is very detailed in what the character is thinking in every moment but also barely fleshed out in story. I think that's supposed to add to the horror of it, and leave it up to your own imagination, but it's just not my style.

I do think the actual creatures were pretty neat and the action bits when they attacked were pretty nerve-wracking. During those times of the book I felt really invested but everything around it I had to fight with myself to listen and not zone out. I also didn't mind the ambiguous ending honestly. This one just wasn't for me... and it's been a while since I read a book by King that I liked, and I can think of quite a few I have DNF'd over the years so it's possible he's just not for me... (is that a sin?)

This book was really cute! I really liked Evan and Olive together once they got there and I loved all the drama of them having to fake being together.

Their fighting towards the end really annoyed me and made me like Evan much less, but I am very stubborn myself...

Overall I did really like the book though and would probably read it again!

I enjoyed this thriller. It had a little bit of creepiness (ymmv there depending on how much you like horror), and some decent characters. Though whole book was really about father/son relationships as we get to see a few different viewpoints on those type of relationships in the book. I enjoyed getting to read about the relationship between Jake and Tom and really understood Tom's anxiety's of wether or not he's a good parent. It was a good read and a page turner for me, I didn't want to put it down. However I'm not sure if it will have a lot of staying power in my mind since there wasn't anything surprising or wowing in the end. I suppose only time will tell.

I really enjoyed this! Though fair warning it's about 80% about libraries. Personally I love learning about libraries so that wasn't a turn off for me.

This is the first book of the kind I have read so take that into consideration. I know some reviewers were dissatisfied with lack of depth to this book especially in the context of racial issues. Once again this is the first book of the kind of read so to me it was just a great introduction to a topic I can delve further into later.

Not typically a romance fan but I guess I've found a romance I enjoy. I really liked this. Both characters were cute and there wasn't a big dramatic fight that I found to be annoying in this book like I find in so many others.

I will probably give another book of Julia Quinn's a try at some point.

I loved this so much!

I listened to it on audiobook and was so excited to hear Carrie Hope Fletcher's voice when I started it!

I loved both characters in this, which is rare for me in 2 point of view books. Usually I find myself groaning my way through one point of view trying to get the one I enjoy, but with this book I just enjoyed the ride.

Leon was sweet and funny and so good and patient with Tiffy. I also loved his unwavering faith and loyalty to his brother Richie.

Tiffy( Sp? -Audiobook-) was wonderful. Super quirky and fun. I loved her sense of humor. And her love story was one I really related to. The way after her breakup she really came to remember and realize so much about how toxic the relationship was is something I'm sadly able to relate to. (Like Tiffy I also got my happy ending with a great guy!)
The way her coping and her issues with nightmares, and flashbacks was portrayed came through as really realistic with me and my experience.

I loved this book through and through and will definitely read it again.

So many questions! The mysterious plot has definitely thickened in this book.
This is my least favorite book in the series so far, but I still very much enjoyed it! I also loved that Simon makes an appearance once again!

Charming books like these are great for passing some time in quarantine and I really do recommend the audiobooks!

(Received this from one of my Professors, he hadn't read it but gets a lot of these types of things and often gives them away to his students.)

None of the pieces in here really stood out to me and I don't imagine they will have any staying power in my mind.

I dragged my way through this book. I admit I bought it for the pretty cover in a moment of weakness looking at book sales and had no idea what it was about. Still at first I was intrigued, I liked Natalie's humor and was interested in the multiple world “glitches” she was seeing. The stories Grandmother told seemed interesting too. But then the story dragged with very little answers, no clear plot just seemed to be all over the place for majority of the book. Then the last few chapters where you finally get to figure out what's going on? Hated them. They were confusing, and to me completely unsatisfying in the end. Really though, what was that ending? So many questions left unanswered...