Juliana
This is how you write a psychological thriller! I originally thought it was going to be a classic groundhog-day storyline, but the concept of living your life backwards and hunting for clues in reverse was something I'd never seen before. This may be up there with some of the best written thrillers I've read!
My only qualm is that there were 3 reveals about certain characters that I easily guessed early on with complete accuracy. These reveals were really the biggest ones in the book. I was exp
I have so much love for this story! The character development was beautiful and the characters themselves were real and relatable. Ban Gilmartin did a phenomenal job of approaching the sensitive topic of mental illness. There were so many great quotes that I just want to compile them and read them when I need a mood boost.
And the setting! A bookshop on the Royal
Mile in Edinburgh? Yes please! I wish the Royal Mile had an old bookshop!
There are so many more great things about this
With a plot surrounding the AIDS epidemic in 1990, this book was sad. At the same time, it highlighted the power of positivity in situations where optimism seems impossible, which was a truly beautiful message. Tucker Shaw writes in a way that feels like it's coming from a deeply personal place.
While there was nothing particularly bothersome about this book, I think I just expected to be more engrossed in it than I was. I also wished the two protagonists/narrators crossed paths more rather than
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Hello Stranger by the amazing Katherine Center! I've read two of Katherine's books prior to this (Things You Save in a Fire in 2021 and The Bodyguard in 2022) and absolutely loved loved them both! When I received an ARC of The Bodyguard, I couldn't tear my eyes from the page. Suffice to say, I was more than a little excited to get my hands on an advanced copy of her latest novel.
I just so happened to have sat through a whole lecture
I think Carrie Soto was such an amazing character because she often wasn't so likable. She needed to win at all costs because to her, winning was everything she was. Having such a layered and unique protagonist made the story read like a memoir, and it's wild to think that Carrie Soto is a figment of TJR's imagination.
As someone who enjoys playing tennis, I loved the intensity and suspense of the matches throughout the book. However, I can understand why someone who is unfamiliar with the t
3.25 stars
I feel like I just read a supernatural episode of Full House. Beyond the magical elements, this book was exactly like every other romcom, starting with the dialogue and ending with the cookie-cutter plot: family tragedy brings woman living in (city) back home to (small southern town) and she can't be with (man she grew to love after knowing him a week) because of (reason) until the end of the book, when they are able to finally be together because of (reason). It was exactly what I dis
Fredrik Backman's insightfulness is transformative. He writes in a way that is powerful enough to shift the way we think about people and society. I can't entirely describe what his writing makes me feel, but I can reiterate what I wrote in my review of Beartown: it's incredibly moving and beautiful.
I rated Us Against You lower than Beartown because I didn't love it quite as much. There were some storylines that I didn't enjoy reading as much as others, such as the focus on the town's
Never have I ever read a book where so many aspects can be considered a protagonist. Hockey and Beartown are just as much characters as the people in the story.
The Washington Times is quoted on the cover stating “Packed with wise insights into the human experience,” and this could not be more true. Every single character is deeply examined despite their role in the events that occur throughout the story. For this reason, the book may feel slightly slow in the beginning as we jump from perspec
4.5 stars! Swimming in the Dark is the story of a young man dealing with anger about an unethical and repressing political system and his complicated and secret relationship with another young man who works for and supports this system. I finished this book with so many emotions. In addition to being beautifully written, it gave me a much deeper understanding of eastern-European communism than I could have gained in a classroom. I was able to come out of this story feeling as though I learned so much. While
3.5 stars
I am a big fan of Blake Crouch and Upgrade was my most anticipated read of the year. That being said, it fell short for me.
You have to be incredibly smart to write the things Blake Crouch writes. The idea of a future with a means of immediate mass genetic code alterations and the way Crouch uses it in the story was simultaneously fascinating and terrifying.
However, this one didn't stick with me the way Dark Matter and Recursion did. I felt that there were too many
This is one of those books that is written in such a raw, emotional, and beautiful way that it gives you no choice but to feel every word and put you in an entirely new headspace. I just feel that it was too long for the type of story it was. While I enjoyed the short chapters, I feel it would have been better if it were 100 or so pages shorter given that it was much more character driven than plot driven.
I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this book through Netgalley. Katie Krimer's words were like a big bear hug. I feel like an hour-long talk with her would be a transformative experience. There was a sense of comfort that arose as I read this book.
I am a firm believer that everyone can benefit from a self-help book simply by the nature of being human. They serve as a reminder that you may be sabotaging and bullying yourself without any awareness of i
3.75 stars
The last 1/4 or so of this book was addicting. I couldn't put it down. But the same can't be said for the first bulk of the story.
I had some trouble getting into this one. There were flashbacks that were so long that by the time it came back to the present, I was confused about what was happening in the scene to begin with. It also just didn't feel as exciting or captivating as I expected it to be. I wasn't disliking it, but I wasn't hooked.
But then the las
3.25 stars
It pains me to give an Emily Henry book less than four stars, especially when I enjoyed Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation, but this was as cliché as it gets (which is ironic given how Nora talks about book clichés). I was so confident I would absolutely love Book Lovers and I'm left feeling a bit disappointed.
The dialogue between Nora and Charlie was sometimes so unnecessarily cringey and out of character that I actually had to pause to roll my eyes. The book also u
3.75 stars
I have so much to say about The Change. My rating comes solely from the fact that I had trouble getting invested in this book. I spent much longer reading it than I expected and, while the writing was great, I wasn't particularly motivated to pick it up or read the next chapter.
With that being said, I think everyone needs to read this book. It left me furious from the very beginning in exactly the ways it was intended to. And what a time for it to be published—when women ar
3.5 stars
When I finished Sarah Pinborough's best seller Behind Her Eyes, I was mind blown by the huge plot twist. Seeing reviews about how Insomnia is also super twisty made me very eager to read it.
I was really close to giving this book 4 stars. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I was very eager to figure out what could possibly explain the strange things happening to Emma. I also liked how a big focus of the story was Emma's relationship with her sister. As I got further into t
4.25 stars. Someone I Used to Know is all about family, whether biological or chosen. It not only made me think deeper about the trauma of children in foster care, but acknowledge the compassion and strength it takes to be a foster parent.
I really liked how the format of the book was such that all my burning questions about what happened 15 years prior was slowly revealed throughout the story. I loved the characters and seeing their growth from school days to present day. More than that, I loved