Jaci
So hilarious, I have a dry sense of humor and parts of this were sending me. Listening to the audiobook was great, I was cackling at work.
If you're a serious person and have trouble laughing at morbidity, death, literal shit, people going senile, avoid this book.
A few of my favorite quotes:
“She was good for a dollar or two.”
“I saw her as a benign ghost...until you needed a little spending money”
You have to watch the show before reading the book. I absolutely adore the written adaptation! The writing style is different and script-like but if you love the show, this won't both you!
I love this series, I think the collaboration with Shonda Rhimes was done so well, the book characters stay very true to the tv characters. This is such a lovely audiobook, props to the narrator!!
The book was fairly parallel to the tv show about 40% of the way through. After that, you see the book split off in its own way providing more detail and scenes we do not get in the tv show.
The book progresses events in chronological order, while the tv show jump cuts to different points in time. The book reveals what King George is thinking about as he's dealing with his secret while married to Queen Charlotte very early on!
What I love about the book are the extra pieces of dialogue, King George's inner dialogue and thoughts, sexual intimacy between the couple, the couple's perspective and support of Brimsley and Reynolds.
I just adore this book and the additional lore we did not get to see on screen.
You'll probably love it too ☺️
I think this book would've resonated much more with me if I were in high school. It reminds me of John Green novels, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Paper Heart (2009), Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008), if they all had a cousin. The comic book characters and music references give it that indie feel.
I listened to the audiobook. I'm baffled that DeNice's name is pronounced literally D-Nice, not D-Neese??? Did Rainbow Rowell request this specific pronunciation?
Seeing the current rhetoric and retrospective reviews, I can see all the ways in which this book is obviously problematic. I'm just curious how this film adaptation is going to weave this story together to current society. I walk away puzzled, the stereotypes are repetitive and feel unnecessary to the story.
The story didn't wow me in a major way, I felt like I was just learning about two people who crossed paths. I feel empathy for these 2 outcasts and the bullying, but because of their age, I felt like I was kind of just a bystander watching a movie slowly unfold.
It just didn't wow me or have that kind of gusto that makes you walk away feeling hopeful or connected to the characters. It was okay.
Watching Bridgerton along with reading the books and oh my god, the Netflix series moves so fast while the books are slow burn, they really stretch out an entire scene.
Reminds me of Evie Dunmore's Bringing Down the Duke!
Their miscommunication and opposite levels of experience are both madly infuriating!!
I love the bonus chapters we get. The gap between the couple getting pregnant then suddenly having a child felt so drastic.
Mindy is absolutely hilarious, I recommend listening to the audiobook. Her timing is impeccable and smart.
If you love The Mindy Project and Kelly Kapoor, you will love this book.
Mindy is probably one of my favorite comedy writers, her timing and wit made me LOL through work.
I hope she knows how much her fans (including me) just adore her!!
This book was okay. It didn't feel absolutely riveting, for that I can't give it 4 stars. Let's say 3-3.5 stars. The “who did it” changed towards the end constantly and it didn't feel like this grand reveal, it just left me confused with the actual outcome. That's okay, I'm sure a lot of people would like this book. I think thrillers just aren't for me.
Parts that made me laugh:
Page 233
“Your cousin is attempting to communicate with me through a strange runic language,” she said as Gabriel stepped out.
“Those are emojis, Nana,” Gabriel said.
Page 163
“But every other part of his life was recorded, uploaded, and captioned. He followed celebrities on Twitter and replied like they actually wanted to hear his witty rejoinders and compliments”
I LOL'd, this one was so relatable I had to laugh at myself.
Things that rubbed me the wrong way
I loved the way our story unfolded in the beginning. I was living for this thriller. However, it got REAL slow and hit a dud; I give 3 stars to the middle of the book.
The ending sent me but I can't predict events as I'm watching them unfold. So it had me in a chokehold. A solid 4 stars.
I see why people recommend this book. But everything in the middle felt a little blah.
I see so much of my highschool self in Sadie, it's embarrassing I have to laugh at it. This book is hilariously relatable and so snarky I adore it.
You're one of the top students at your school, make lists on lists on lists, and you don't read an alcohol bottle to see you're drinking bourbon vs beer? SMH WHAT
“You're the only person worth paying attention to” - Julius STOP IT! That's so cute!! ✋
This book was really refreshing and felt so poetic to read from different perspectives and a change in writing styles to get inside of their thoughts.
For historical fiction, I really appreciated the integration of historical events. This world makes me so sad, I didn't know about Thanksgiving origins and beheadings of peoples body parts in jars. Colonel Chivington and his role in the Sand Creek Masscare was absolutely disgusting. I'm so angry how Indians have been treated it disgusts me how people continue to gloss over harm in our history simply for “tradition sake.”
The explanation behind the Indian-head test pattern left me in shock. We brush over all of these horrifying parts of history in public classrooms, but it's the truth. Why are people so afraid of talking about the bloody parts of history?
The topics of self identity and not being Indian enough or trying to reconnect with your blood and the culture was so relatable. I loved that these stories spanned vast experiences, and shared the beauty of various tribes and cultural customs and traditions, across various generations all the way from Alcatraz island to contemporary day in Oakland.
This book made me so sad but I really loved how connected to Tony I felt, especially the ending.