Mahala
Puddin' is the companion novel to Dumplin'. Not quite a sequel as it follows different characters that we meet in the first book, but it does take place in the timeline after Dumplin' ends. In Puddin', we follow Millie and Callie, who we meet in the first book. Millie is the epitome of positivity, complete with cross-stitched sayings and seeing the best in everyone. Callie is the opposite, she makes some bad choices, feels like her life is over, and is a classic mean girl.
I adore Julie Murphy. And while this fell short of the feels that I got from Dumplin, this was a cute, sweet, fun read with lots of positivity and life lessons. I definitely related to Millie a lot of the time and I thought Callie was a very real character. She's a mean girl, she's got a tough skin, and it's all because she's insecure. I know SO many people like that. I freakin loved her character development in this story.
There are love interests for both characters, but it wasn't overwhelmingly a romance novel. This book's theme is all about friendship, specifically female friendship. It's also got that coming of age element. And no ridiculous tropes. It has a lot of elements but Julie Murphy pulled it off beautifully, balancing everything. I was looking for a fun read that wouldn't be depressing in quarantine and I definitely got it!
Would I recommend?
If you read Dumplin and enjoyed it, then yes!
A short and sweet novella told from Luka Lowe's POV.
I was really looking forward to this to find out more about who Adele really is and I feel like I got what I was looking for! I've learned reading this series that although I enjoyed the story, I do NOT enjoy journey books. Both the duology and the novella were stories of the characters traveling from one place to another and I found myself many times saying, “GET ON WITH IT.” They felt very tedious. But I enjoyed the story and the characters, which is why I've rated them all pretty well. Particularly with Iron to Iron, I liked reading from Luka's POV for a change and I was happy to finally find out what happened during the first race!
It's a quick easy read for fans of the Wolf by Wolf series.
I'm so conflicted about this book so let's do pros and cons. Bad news first.
Cons:
I feel like this book could have been so much shorter. The copy I read was about 480 pages and I feel like this could have been condensed to 250-300. The first 300 pages are “journey,” the characters traveling from one place to another. And I was so bored. I was dying for them to just get there so the story could move on. Because there's no story in travel. I feel like it's just obstacles put in the way that I'm bored by because I KNOW they're going to overcome them and get to the destination, that's the point. So I really didn't enjoy the first two thirds of the book and feel like it could have been MUCH shorter and I would have enjoyed it more.
Pros:
I loved that some characters joined the resistance and were welcomed. It made me think about how these days people act like everything is “theirs” because they knew it, liked it, were part of it first. And they never allow other people to grow and learn and join them without a fight. I really appreciated what the author did with that aspect of the story.
Luka's meeting with real Adele, finally. I've been waiting for this forever and wasn't disappointed.
That's all I'll say.
I have more thoughts but I'm not going to include them because they're spoilery! I wanted so much to know more about real Adele. I wish that we had known more about her either in the beginning of this book or the end of Wolf by Wolf. I know that Iron to Iron has more info about her and I'm looking forward to reading that for that reason, but I wish it was included in the main duology. It felt missing.
3.5/5 stars, rounded up.
Would I recommend?
Did you read and enjoy Wolf by Wolf? Then yes, fam, you gotta find out what happens.
It's 1956 and Hitler won the war. Yael escaped from a death camp and is now part of the underground resistance working and plotting to rid the world of Hitler. Yael enters a cross continent race to win the iron cross and attend a ball with Hitler, where she will finally kill him and start the revolution.
I'm a sucker for anything WWII related. I'm fascinated and repulsed by it, of course. So I've had this book on my TBR forever. It didn't disappoint. I was a little surprised by the skin-shifting element just because I didn't know about it before I started reading, but it's so interesting and I really liked the idea. Ryan created a whole new world and reality after WWII, she did an incredible job with world building, including details that weren't even necessary to the story but helped imagine exactly what the world was like in the wake of Hitler's win.
I won't give anything away but there is some slight romance hinted at but it's not in the way you would think, which I LOVED and can't wait to see what comes of it in the next book. No annoying tropes, which is a win. And the ENDING. The ending. Most of the twists and turns in the book, I saw coming because I've read too many YA books. But the ending I did not anticipate for some reason and I yelled “NO!” and threw my book down. So yeah, pretty great ending that made me really happy I bought Blood for Blood at the same time, which I'm going to start reading as soon as I post this review.
Would I recommend?
Do you like YA, WWII fiction, and historical retellings? Then yes, for sure. It's a tough and sad read in places, as anticipated. But worth it, for sure.
4.5 stars!
Alex, Suzette, and their daughter Hanna live the ideal life on the surface. Seemingly happy family, financially well off, beautiful home. But 7-year-old Hanna has never spoken. In fact, she's not as sweet as she seems, tormenting her mother when they're alone but sweet as candy to her dad. We come into the story when it seems both Hanna and Suzette are reaching their breaking point.
To Suzette, it seems that Hanna has it out for her and she doesn't know why. Throughout, we hear from her on how her Crohn's makes her feel less than and hear fears of whether she's failed as a parent, made her daughter this way, deserves to be retaliated against. We also hear from Hanna, the things she sees in her head and the behind the scenes of the things she does to her mother, how she feels about Mommy and Daddy really.
I won't say much more because you should experience this book for yourself, I don't want to spoil a single thing. This story is masterfully told and the author seems to have done a lot of research in a lot of areas. I absolutely couldn't put this down, I read it all in somewhere around 26 hours even though I'm working and running a house because I was determined to find out what happened next. The only reason this received 4 stars instead of 5 from me is because the ending seemed a little lackluster to me. I understand it and I like it, even. But I just was waiting for even just one chilling sentence or something at the end. However, Baby Teeth has convinced me I don't want children anymore. I'll definitely be here to see what this author does next.
Would I recommend?
If you like psychological thrillers, definitely yes.
I'm going to be honest with you, I would never have chosen this book on my own. But it's what my book club voted on, so I gave it a shot. The premise of the story is that Rosie is a Michelin chef whose husband is having an affair and wants a divorce. So Rosie decides she needs to get out of the city and drunkenly purchases a pink bus to open a traveling tea shop in. Adventures ensue.
Pros: It was a sweet book, I'll give it that. It's cutesy and a quick read. Rosie is a sweet character but seemed a bit all over the map. My favorite character was Aria. I don't know what to say about her without giving anything away, but she's the only character that didn't seem just totally surface.
That's about it for pros, tbh.
Cons: The intro seemed a bit rushed to me as I was reading it. When Rosie finds out about the affair almost immediately, the scene is literally only about a page long and the divorce is being processed. Years of marriage settled into divorce in a few sentences? It seemed to me that the author just wanted to get to the main plot and wrap up the backstory as quickly as possible. But it was so quick it was just totally unbelievable.
Max. Max is a fellow “van-lifer” who sells vegan sugar free foods. There's nothing wrong with that. But he's constantly degrading Rosie for her choice to make, eat, and sell comfort foods. He's always trying to get her to change who she is and become vegan despite her protests against it. It's too much. He's made out to be the PERFECT man, physically fit, kind, healthy, adventurous, talented, etc. The list goes on forever. This man is the most one dimensional character I've ever seen, he has NO flaws whatsoever. He drives me crazy because he is the most vanilla character ever written.
The fact that Rosie is pushing herself and being pushed by others to start a new relationship before her divorce is even finalized. I thought this book was going to be about Rosie starting a new life and figuring out who she is and making friends, etc. Instead, it's a “love story” with no real emotion. It's got a love triangle and enemies to friends. Need I say more?
Anyway, the ending is YIKES and I won't say more lest I spoil it for any poor soul wanting to read it.
Would I recommend?
No, this is so very vanilla and forgettable. It's cute, but you could read literally anything else and remember it more.
I decided to sleep on this one before I reviewed it. I desperately wanted to give it four stars for two reasons. One, because I had hyped this series up in my head for so long that I was dying to be obsessed with it. I wanted so badly to love it. Two, because I did actually love some of the characters. Let's get into that.
Things I enjoyed:
Lara Jean, Kitty, and their dad were brilliant. The family dynamic was written masterfully. So well that I would assume the writer drew on some of her own experiences but maybe she's just that good. Idk but I loved reading about the Song sisters and their family. (Notice I left out Margot. I have mixed feelings on her for now. Maybe the next two books will clear it up.) The way they all took care of each other and tried to be their best for each other and their dad in the absence of their mom was portrayed so perfectly. Ugh, I adored it.
Things I did not enjoy:
THE LOVE TRIANGLE. And also, the enemies to friends trope. I feel like every book I've read in quarantine has had one or both of these and it's exhausting. Why does it always need to happen this way? Why? I have consumed so much media about this being everyone's FAVORITE couple and everyone's favorite ship and it truly could be because after all that I was expecting something that would knock my socks off, but it felt very lackluster to me. I don't think Lara Jean should end up with either of them. They both seem selfish and not good enough for her. And the enemies to friends plot was so strong that I felt like there were no sparks ever. It was so negative for so long.
Would I recommend?
Begrudgingly, yes. It's a quick and good read. I really really enjoyed reading about the Song sisters and that makes it worth it, I think. I will be reading the second one.
This book has below average ratings and some scathing reviews for “not being scary enough.” Now, I don't generally read gore or horror so maybe it's just my lack of perspective, but I was chilled by this book. But more so, I think it's because none of these people have been gaslighted. Maybe they're too desensitized by overindulging in horror lit. Idk.
As someone who has been stalked and gaslighted before, this book was a chilling reminder of how horrifying it is. Before every kill, the murderer gaslights their victims by opening and closing drawers, leaving items in odd places, moving furniture, etc. They do just enough to scare them, make them wonder if they did it themselves. I know from experience how unsettling it is and how scary it is to wonder if someone is in your house watching you. This was the most frightening part to me, the emotional tension. The murders themselves weren't terribly gory, but I don't think that's necessary to be scary at all. I think a balanced amount of blood was written in.
Now, folks, this is YA. So yes, of course there's a romance element. And from the time I realized this, I wanted to hate that aspect. But in a fun surprise for all of us, I didn't! Makani and Ollie are well written characters and their romance felt legit, complete with teen angst, family problems, and sexual tension. It didn't feel cheesy, insta, or forced so I actually enjoyed reading about it. They seemed like friends.
As for background characters, wth with Makani's parents??? They are absolute garbage monsters. Which makes me upset but unfortunately, it's reality for many people today. And I HATED the “townsfolk” who thought a serial killer would apparently never be able to hurt anyone they knew and kept leaving their children alone day after day and the people who used it for fun scares on Halloween. I was like “people cannot possibly be that dumb.” But then I remembered the state of the world right now during COVID-19 where people are seeing the danger and running right to it. So I guess that part actually cannot be discounted as unbelievable.
Wow, I didn't love this.
Okay first, because of the title of this book, I would honestly never have read it EXCEPT for the fact that I met the author once and she was absolutely spectacularly lovely. So then of course I HAD to read it. I met Kody very briefly at YALLFEST in 2015 (??) and I just now read the book because I'm a professional procrastinator, clearly. I also did the unthinkable and saw the movie years ago before I read this.
I don't have a lot to say about this other than I don't like many YA tropes. And this book is a melting pot of classic tropes (love triangle, enemies to friends, etc). It was kind of all over the place, dealing with a lot of issues at once including (spoiler alert??) alcoholism, divorce, family problems, low self esteem, teen pregnancy, friendships, and trying to find a means of escape from problems instead of dealing with them. Let's throw in a love triangle! Because there were so many issues on the table, it felt scrambled, rushed, and like nothing was really properly addressed or resolved.
Anyway, I don't have much positive to say and Kody is lovely and I would try reading another of her books instead so I'm going to cut this short.
Would I recommend? No, but maybe pick up another of her books instead.
Okay, so I'm going to attempt a spoiler free beginning.
The plot of the novel is two children, Chris and Emily, who were best friends and grew up like brother and sister because their families were so close. This later blossomed into a romantic relationship that was so close, they were basically the same person. But one day, Emily ends up dead and Chris in the hospital with stitches in his head due to a supposed botched suicide pact. But as we delve further into the lives of Chris and Emily and their families, we see another story emerge.
Pros: I couldn't put it down. I HAD to know what happened. In fact, as I was finishing this book, I sat down and told my husband that my reading time was important to me and he had to stop trying to show me YouTube videos because I had to know what happened at the end.
I appreciated the plot point of look what forcing two people together can do. We often see the enemies to lovers trope. But Picoult pointed out that she wanted the opposite, star crossed lovers who's families pressured them together all of their lives and the affect this can have on two people as well. It was really interesting, a narrative I haven't read before and enjoyed.
Listen, I'm an INFJ and I'm ALL for a sad book. And this one was devastating and heartbreaking for Emily and the families of these kids. It made my heart ache at points. This is a pro for me. Any book that actually makes me feel something is okay, even if I irrationally feel for characters that are total idiots. Which brings me to ...
Cons: I hated the main character, Chris. I understand that he was supposed to be a teenager and maybe just making bad decisions, but COME ON. Okay and HERE COME THE SPOILERS SO STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED.
Chris is the worst character. I was an absolute imbecile as a teenager, I made such bad choices. But I would NEVER have agreed to assist in someone's suicide, even if they were the person I loved the most. ESPECIALLY if they were the person I loved the most. That's not love. I'm sorry, but it's not. And if Chris was supposed to be so wise beyond his years and so in love with Emily, then he would have known to reach out, tell anyone. When she opened up to him about suicidal thoughts, he should have, and any rational person would have, sought help from anyone they could have. The idea that he would help her kill herself because she asked him to is ABSURD.
Second con, absolutely NO WAY he would have been found not guilty. That was the dumbest thing I've ever read. I don't even need to elaborate.
Would I recommend this? Yes. Although this is a controversial novel, I think Jodi Picoult is a great storyteller that always leaves me wanting more. If you want a good story with a sad plot, this is it. But trigger warnings: sexual abuse, suicide.
I hate reviewing classics because about 16 billion people have already reviewed them but I promised myself I'd review everything I read this year so here we are.
Not gonna lie, I dread reading “classics.” And as I read classics, I often wonder who on God's green earth has decided to keep referring to these books as classics. WHY are they classics? Simply because they're old? Because many times, search as I may, I cannot find another reason why these stories would be so highly honored.
That being said, I was very pleasantly surprised by The Invisible Man. This is the first H.G. Wells I've read and I wasn't disappointed. Being originally written in 1897 (I believe), I was expecting some boring, difficult to read novel. Instead, I got a witty, funny, thought provoking, easy to read story. The writing flowed, wasn't halting or boring, and at times was even funny. I'm really impressed and I honestly look forward to reading another Wells novel.
Would I recommend this? Yes with no conditions. I deem this appropriate to be called a classic.
3.5 stars but rounded up to 4 on Goodreads because I like her.
My Squirrel Days is weird. I've never read anything like it. I cannot figure out what's true or false, really happened or largely exaggerated. It reads like the author is, in fact, Erin Hannon. It's very strange and funny, but also confusing. Is Ellie just like Erin in real life? Or is she playing a character for the book to be funny??? Truly wonder if I will ever know the answer.
Anyway, a couple things I did really enjoy were the type of humor used and the way each chapter or section was labeled by a role she's played in life.
Would I recommend? For fans of The Office or Kimmy Schmidt, yes. Everyone else, probably not.
A very vanilla YA love story. Sierra is looking for a winter vacation fling and Caleb is looking for redemption from something in his past. Queue the insta-love.
I feel like What Light is written more middle grade than YA, but it's not? I don't know, this one was weird. It's very vanilla and a very easy read. But I didn't NOT enjoy it. I mean, this book is fine, there's nothing I hated. I'm sure some people didn't enjoy the good old insta-love trope, but I'm not one to knock it because I met my husband and knew I was gonna marry him like a week later. But just because I didn't hate anything, doesn't mean it's necessarily a good book. The writing was fine, the story was fine, the characters were fine. I don't have a whole lot else to say. The setting was beautiful and Taylor Swift-esque. But otherwise, I'm shrugging here. It's a story we've all read before.
Would I recommend? For a young teenager, maybe 13, yes. For an older teenager or adult? Not unless you just need a quick, easy read for your Goodreads Challenge.
Everyone is just doing the best they can, even if that's not very good.
Flora Banks has anterograde amnesia, which means she has no short term memory. I thought the author did an amazing job making the reader put themselves in Flora's place. Many people are saying that they didn't like the book because it was too repetitive. Here's the thing. It's supposed to be. Flora has to constantly read what she's written herself to know what's going on. When I finished reading this book, I felt a little brain broken myself. I put myself there in that spot and it was frustrating and frightening. TOMOFB is beautifully written and heartbreaking on so many levels. I feel that I can't say much without giving away the many twists and turns.
The thing I was worried about going into this book was that it was a “love cures all illness” trope and I was gonna rage if so. But thankfully, I was proven wrong and I'm glad I chose to not judge preemptively and read it! Flora kisses a boy and when she wakes up the next day, she still remembers it. It seems a bit dicey that she would remember her first kiss and nothing else but trust me, it gets explained. Don't let it stop you!
I've given this book 4 stars because of the masterful storytelling and beautiful writing but also because I felt the ending was a tad lacking, it was hinted at quite a bit throughout and I could've done with a little more surprise. But all in all, lovely and gripping, I couldn't put it down!
Two lives were taken when Hae Min Lee was murdered.
Adnan's Story is probably the most frustrating and infuriating book I've ever read. It's brilliant. It's honest. It's compelling. I'm not going to recap this story because you already know it. Who hasn't at least listened to Serial? (If you haven't, run don't walk.) Serial is, of course, where I first encountered the story of Adnan Syed. And for a year, I took it at face value. Just by this (what I see now is) tiny amount of information about the case, I thoroughly and wholeheartedly believed in Adnan's innocence. Just recently, I found this book by the fiercely multifaceted Rabia Chaudry and had to read it. In the midst of reading this, I listened to the Crime Junkie podcast's episode about Adnan. And wait, I thought Serial told the whole story. You see, I'm clearly terribly naive. I believed a journalist.
Adnan's Story is a must read for anyone who listened to Serial. It tells the WHOLE story, detail by detail. At times, it's slow. This is because Rabia is incredibly detailed in her storytelling, not wishing to leave a scrap, a morsel, of information unshared. I admit that despite it's popularity, I haven't listened to Undisclosed (don't judge me, I'm listening to like 5 true crime podcasts at any given moment) but you can BET I'll be starting it from the beginning ASAP.
I'm angry, I'm upset, I'm sad, and I'm SO SO disappointed (as always) by the “justice” system. There is almost nothing that frustrates me more than the injustice in this cruel world. Adnan's Story (and Hae's story) is a prime example of this. Cold hard facts prove that Adnan had no involvement in his close friend's murder. The motorcycle! The fax cover sheet! Asia! The reward! The #taptaptap! Jay's confession of lies! The list goes on and on. I will not rant about my own theories in this case, as that will do nothing but hmu with your theories, let's rant. This book is important. Adnan's story is important, Hae's story is important. READ IT. Listen to ALL the podcasts, dive deep, find new evidence, be a web sleuth.
Shout out to Rabia and JUSTIN, the defense lawyer Adnan needed all along. I hope next time I see this book pop up in my feed, Adnan is free and Hae's true killer is brought to justice.
Confession time: I was a John Green fan girl at some point in my life. One of my most vivid memories of the home I grew up in is laying on the porch swing on the screened in side of the porch in a hugely oversized orange hoodie late, late at night sobbing my eyes out to TFIOS for the 77th time. I also gifted copies of Looking For Alaska to everyone that I could rope into a conversation about my favorite book. Moral of this story is of course I had to read Turtles All The Way Down.
This book is uncomfortable. One of the most uncomfortable books I've read. And because of that, my review is so mixed, my feelings are so mixed. So for you, dear reader, and myself, I'm making a list and not checking it even once. I'm just writing it and releasing it into the wild. Here we go.
Pros: Amazing mental illness representation, specifically OCD and anxiety disorders. The protagonist suffers from these and that's part of what makes this book so uncomfortable, tbh. I'm not saying that because I'm uncomfortable reading about mental illness, quite the opposite. My husband struggles with OCD, thankfully not as advanced as Aza's. We both have anxiety disorders and depression. I'm not unfamiliar with mental illness. It's uncomfortable because it's real and it's triggering. But it's amazing, accurate representation that is so needed, which leads us to pro number two.
A realistic ending. No one saves anyone in this book. No one has the perfect happy ending. Loose ends are not tied up. Aza isn't normal and never will be. She isn't magically cured. Because that's not how life works. And that's something I personally enjoy now and then in a fiction. Happy endings get old sometimes. This is a pro on my personal list, but I understand some people would not love this.
Moving on.
Cons: Terrible plot. I did not at any point understand or enjoy the storyline. I feel like Green wanted to write a book about a girl with OCD (for which I applaud him) but he had no storyline so he just threw in a disappearance and sprinkled in some romance here and there. It was honestly super super boring and highly predictable. It also kind of made no sense whatsoever.
Also, every character other than Aza felt so flat and one dimensional that I was so disappointed. Who are these people and why should I care about them or Aza's relationship with them? The world shall never know. This is not what I was expecting from a John Green novel. But again, it felt like he had a prerogative here and everything else just kind of fell by the wayside.
I'm sure I could ramble on some more but I just don't want to. The storyline was boring and since that's the core of a novel, my cons list is done here.
Would I read it again? No. The only reason I gave it three stars is the mental illness rep.
Would I recommend this book?
Probably not. And trigger warning for OCD and anxiety. I guess read it if you want to feel represented? But seek out other options first. Sorry this is harsh!!! I hate being mean but I'm so disappointed tbh.
“We are so young. We are so young.”
I've had this on my TBR list for years, years. Of course, as it went viral, I hyped it up in my mind. And then I deflated all that hype before I read it because I've grown more cynical in the past years. I assumed it was just a bestseller because the author died. I don't mean to be cold, really. Her death was a true tragedy, so horrifying, and I cried years ago when I read about. I also cried when I read the beautiful introduction and again when I read The Opposite of Loneliness, the essay. And to that point, I was wrong. I was wrong to judge preemptively.
Marina would have been a great writer of our time. That doesn't mean she would have gotten published or had success, but she was an incredible writer. In the fiction section, I was drawn into every single story. I didn't want to put it down until I found out what happened. Her characters were real people that I could see. And that's a feat with short stories, it's difficult to write a character that real, with a backstory, in a few pages while also telling the story. But she did it.
And in the nonfiction section, Marina somehow managed to make Yale sound interesting enough to hold my attention. Not sorry, Universities are not the place for me. Her musings about life are young and unfinished, but insightful. I wish she had more time, she deserves more time. Of course she does.
Would I recommend this?
Yes, if you enjoy short stories, essays, and realism.
I picked up this book because I LOVED Dumplin'. I was excited to read another fun, flowing, powerful story by Julie Murphy. And maybe it's because she was still finding her voice, or maybe this was just the exact novel she wanted to write, but I didn't find what I was looking for in it. I found this book really disappointing in a few ways. The premise is that Alice has cancer. Alice is dying and she basically wants to complete her bucket list with the help of her childhood friend, Harvey. But then she goes in remission, so now what?
The first thing I didn't really understand or enjoy was the fact that her entire bucket list was just a list of revengeful acts. Alice wanted to get back at people that had wronged her instead of enjoying the little time she thought she had left. I didn't find this entirely realistic. I cannot claim to know what it feels like to have an expiration date, thankfully. So I don't know. Whatever.
To go along with that thought, I found Alice to be exceptionally selfish, bratty, and just a mean girl. Honestly, she used her best friend, played with his feelings, and tried to ruin multiple people's lives knowingly. She's a spoiled, mean girl and I don't feel she gets any redemption at all.
The last two pages saved this book for me. Harvey's character seemed real to me. He had a personality and a backstory that I felt was believable. The ending that he got was redeeming of the entire book, although I do have reservations. But I'm brushing them aside because I like Julie Murphy.
Would I recommend this book?
Put this book down and go read Dumplin' instead.
Omg. I legit do not know how to even begin to write a review. I just finished this book and I'm honestly fuming so it's probably not going to be nice or thoughtful or good. The Little Friend is marketed as a mystery novel, the summary describes it as a mystery of a young boy found hanging in his yard and years later his 12 year old sister goes on a mission to find his killer. That's how the book begins. About 20 pages in, it suddenly veers off to the left to talk about race? Class? Snakes? Nothing at all? And SPOILER ALERT, there is NO closure at the end. The writing is descriptive (read: boring) and I feel like I wasted a week of my life trying to get to the end to find out what happened. Really not sure where the author was trying to go or what message she was trying to send with this book. To be frank, it seems like she wanted to write the story of her own childhood, realized that it was utterly pointless and no one would want to read it unless she made up a subplot. So she slapped a murdered brother on and then just wrote her childhood story.
Summed up: there's a beginning, but no middle, and especially no end. Don't waste your time.
Brilliant. I picked this book up on an accidental whim. I had extra time in town before work and ran into our local used bookstore to find something to read as I forgot my book at home. I happened upon this and since How To Be A Woman has been on my TBR list for ages, I decided to go ahead and take this home with me. I read it all in a couple of days, between jobs. Caitlin Moran is hilarious, intelligent, and relatable. This collection of essays is just personal enough to have not only made me laugh and cry, but made me feel like I know her. If I lived in the UK, I would buy newspapers just to read her column. Her interview with Lady Gaga is one of the best I've ever read, and when I read her review of Sherlock, I felt like I was hearing Moriarty say, “I will burn the heart out of you” again for the first time. I got chills.
I laughed, I cried, and I'm so looking forward to picking up her other work in the future.
I will scream forever (until they give in and comply) that Goodreads needs half stars. I would legit give this 3 and a half stars. But I guess I'll give it the extra half because I love Gayle Forman's writing usually.
The thing is, the bones of an amazing story are here. Cody's best friend Meg took her own life. While cleaning out her room, Cody finds some encrypted files on Meg's computer that may lead her to find out why she committed suicide. This book should have made me feel something. Anything, really. It should have made me sad and hopeful and angry. But it didn't. I didn't really feel anything when I read this. It was just another YA book for me.
The romance aspect was a huge turn off for me. It seemed completely out of place and unwarranted. And honestly, it felt like a reach by the author to make it more appealing to YA readers. That kinda sucks, whether that's what she meant by it or not. Maybe she just felt like it needed a side plot. Idk, it just wasn't for me.
Really, I think I'm giving it three and a half stars because the bones of the story are there. I get what she was going for. It just felt lacking in execution. And also for the writing style. Obviously, Gayle Forman is a talented writer and I've always enjoyed her flowing writing style.
“I can't take another dead girl.”
I truly can't. In addition, I can't put my feelings about this book into words, but I'll do my best. I read it in one day. I wish there was more. And less. My heart is broken, not just for Sadie and Mattie, but for every child in this sick world. I've been crying for 10 minutes and I can't stop now. Sadie is a masterpiece. It tells the truth about being a child and a teenager and about life in general. It doesn't sugar coat and it doesn't hide. It destroys you and it breaks your heart and I just want to scream at everyone, but you need to read it if you can.
Aside from my heart being ripped out because of the story, let's talk about formatting. Courtney Summers is a genius. This book is half novel, half podcast and I couldn't be happier with it. There is literally a podcast that you can find on your favorite podcast app and listen to. The chapters are alternating between Sadie's first person account and a podcast called The Girls that is, Serial style and Someone Knows Something style, trying to crack the mystery of Sadie's disappearance. If you don't want to listen to the podcast, it is transcribed in the book. I listened and read along because I'm obsessive. And it was perfect.
Would I recommend it?
Yes. I would recommend Sadie to anyone who can handle the following TW: pedophilia, child sexual abuse, mentions of drug use. This is an uncomfortable book. It hurts. But it's worth the read.
Y'all. This book is SO detailed. I cannot imagine the amount of work put into this. I love everything about the fairytale aspects. The retelling and modernizing and switching things up a little bit. SO GOOD. This is the kind of series where I'm sad it's over because I feel like I can't hang out with my friends anymore. These characters are my friends and now it's over.
Thorne and Cress forever. Goodbye.