Krista
I stumbled across the work of Rachel Cusk through Second Place and I now feel there will be reading before Rachel Cusk and reading after. Like no other book before, it had me laughing with delight, blown away by Cusk's voice: her depth of perception, construction of conflict, connections of thought, word choice, and perhaps most surprisingly of all her use of the exclamation point. Second Place was genius.
Gave it until the halfway point then abandoned it. Tried it out because it was on the Booker Longlist. I found the language hyper-simplistic. The frame was to provide insight on love and therefore the human condition, and by halfway the insights weren't hitting deep enough to keep my interest.
A wonderful celebration of life. Real life, it's joys, hardships and all the little things in between that matter more than I appreciated before I read this book. An interesting story well told. Four stars is more a reflection of my connection with the author's voice rather than any fault of his. I'm likely one of the least likely people on the planet to want to commit suicide. Philosophy can be oh so personal. The ending was maybe a little too inevitable? But overall The Midnight Library is a wonderful book, one well worth reading.
This story didn't hook me right away. It started a little slowly I felt, and the main character's meddling, though well intentioned, irked me a bit (perhaps because I can meddle sometimes myself). But I'm glad I stuck with the book because a third of the way in, it just... blossomed, unfolding into one of the most compelling, original stories I've read in the last while. The depth Katherine Center gave her main characters was extremely satisfying, the conflict between them (for the most part) felt real and compelling and the final scene was electric. Terrific read, a tear-jerker.
Engrossing. I'm so glad Margaret Atwood has so much to say to readers. I love her insight wit and way with words.
Three and a half stars... could've been four and a half but for one major problem. I really felt disappointed 25% of the way in because this is not a story about a woman having an inappropriate love affair with her boss. I thought I'd be seeing tenuous dates, trying to keep things under wraps... this book is about something completely different than what the blurb advertises. What Ireland did to cause her termination wasn't even remotely ‘inappropriate'. Grant and Ireland don't really work in the ‘same' company. There is no company policy saying they can't date. I felt mislead. This isn't the story I signed up for.
Which was really too bad because the story was for the most part a strong, engrossing story, but it ISN'T about a CEO and his subordinate. The references to what they actually do in their careers is so surface, the characters didn't feel like a CEO and a news anchor to me, just general people. I found it very unbelievable that Grant could have ‘worked his way up' through a public company to become CEO by twenty-nine years old. Nothing in his character substantiated that he was talented enough. There are chapters of flashbacks to Grant's early life which came too early in the novel I felt. I wasn't invested enough in Grant's character to really care what he did when he was a teenager and it was a real effort to stay focused on those chapters. Ended up skimming them. The story would've benefitted from the flashbacks being a paragraph here or there instead of exhaustive chapters in my opinion.
Up until the last sixty pages this was the best book I'd read all year. The ending seemed an alternate reality. A sufficient foundation was not laid to make the behaviour of the main characters in the end appear consistent. Felt blindsided in not a good way.
I was hoping for a light, witty read, but lack of character consistency, depth and likability as well as predictable plotting, made it more fluffy and cheesy than satisfying.
I'd give this book a thousand stars if I could. One of the best books I've ever read. Beautiful. Examines one of the deepest questions of human existence with grace and empathy. Touched the core of my heart.
Loved every moment of this book. Noelle Salazar has a distinctive voice that drew me like a magnet. Her characters carry a dignity that inspires. I was so invested in Audrey and James' fate, I had to skip to the end and find out what happened!
Dnf. Got 20% through. Very little real action. Characters spend most of the chapter ruminating over past events. Kept putting me to sleep.
I really enjoyed the premise of this book—a woman in a man's world, dealing with the ramifications of trauma in her life. The fire station life felt authentic and I liked the character Cassie. It felt like there was maybe a little too much going on in this novel? There seemed to be three plot lines; estranged mother, firefighter life and a romance. To my taste, the author didn't get deep enough into all three plot lines for me to find them satisfying. Cassie just suddenly seems to flip a switch and warm toward her mom. Owen ‘the rookie' has undergone his own trauma, yet he seems like an impossibly perfect guy with no baggage, and often when Cassie's with the firefighters, it's a bit like... where is this going, especially before she starts getting harassed. Cassie is exemplary at EVERYTHING to do with firefighting, to the extent it's a bit like, come on. But overall, I liked it, and will definitely read more of Katherine Center's books.
First off, I learned a lot about myself as a reader from this book, because quite honestly during the first third I was inches away from hating it. The only reason I kept reading was because I'm writing a book with a deep dive into the music industry, and I needed to know what else is being written about it. Even then, I put out a call on Twitter and Booktok, ‘Is this book worth finishing?' The feedback I got was the beginning was slow but the end was worth it. And you know what? I totally agree. I found the second half infinitely more interesting than the first half.
So I really looked at why. Some definitely had to do with personal bias. Whenever I meet a Daisy Jones type, we're like oil and water. I have very little patience for someone so self-absorbed and amoral. But I've loved books with main characters I didn't like, so I looked a bit deeper. I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'll keep it vague, but every single character in the opening of the book read like a cliché. Every one was exactly what I'd expect to find in this world and in the opening third, none of them surprised me. The foreshadowing of the relationship between Daisy and the other lead singer Billy, was pointing in a direction I didn't want it to go. Even though I didn't predict where it was going, I felt like it was inevitable, and I didn't want to read that story.
But by the middle, I started to be surprised. I REALLY liked the subplot with Karen and Graham. And by the end, I was deeply moved, and felt like I'd read a book with a meaty theme.
I absolutely think Daisy Jones and the Six is worth the read. Quick tip! Feedback I got was this is a book to buy on audiobook. I wish I knew this before I started it! Apparently each member of the band has it's own actor, and it comes together really, really well.
This was my first time reading a Kate Hewitt novel and I'm certain it won't be the last. This book brought me to tears with it's perfect balance of sweetness, happiness, sadness and loss. I feel like the main characters Olivia and Simon are new friends. A touching love story I can believe in.
It really is the perfect thriller. A perfectly paced combination of domestic suspense and crime thriller. Exceptionally plotted. I'm in awe.
No author I've read makes backstory as riveting as Lucy Foley. An excellent thriller. Kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end.
Lovely sweet romance between two lovely sweet characters. Didn't really entice me to turn the pages quickly, but left me glowing and happy once I got to the end.
The plot twists were great and kept coming till the very end. The thriller aspect held my attention just as strongly as the romance. I was a little disappointed to see the characterizations were very similar to other Sandra Brown novels: an untamed man with an almost invisible woman... Friction is a book for entertainment, not for insight.
The premise of More Than Words intrigued me, because I think often women are attracted to men that carry similar shortcomings to their father, so I knew if this book was going to satisfy me, it was going to have to cut deep. Halfway to two-thirds through, I was tempted to abandon the book. It looked like the root of Jessie and Callen's conflict was going to be explained away or swept under the rug like it is in many romance books. But it didn't. I'm so glad I stuck with this one because man did it come through in the end. Brought me to tears. So beautiful. Well done, Mia Sheridan.
