Mahala

I excitedly picked this up at my local used book shop as it's been hyped up recently on TikTok's book community as a thriller they couldn't put down. I think I must be jaded from reading too many thrillers because I don't get the hype.

Plot holes abound, the characters are almost totally unbelievable, and the writing style is, frankly, childish. The dialogue ... I'm at a loss for words. I'm truly stunned at the amount of hype this book has gotten lately. Here's the thing, if you don't read many thrillers, maybe this will be your cup of tea. If you don't care whether it's realistic or not, sure. But don't go in thinking this is the new Gone Girl. I assure you, it's not. However, it IS a quick read. I finished it in a weekend of very casual reading. Fast paced, keeps you entertained, kind of like a Lifetime movie in novel form. Yeah, that about sums it up.

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.

I didn't know much about this book before I read it. I had heard of it (since I don't, in fact, live under a rock) but didn't know really what it was about at all. I picked it up at my favorite local-ish used bookstore for 25 cents. I literally bought this book for a quarter just because I could. I am SO glad I did. The official synopsis really says it all (at least keeping it spoiler-free) but I loved this book so much that I had to write a review. If nothing else, just to rant about how much I loved it.

The Kite Runner is set for the most part in Kabul, Afghanistan. I have to say that I knew very, very little about Afghanistan and Afghan culture going into this book. I was a little hesitant to read it because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to relate or understand what was going on. I experienced the complete opposite. The story was very easily accessible and I was totally immersed from the first chapter; I felt like I was in Afghanistan with Amir and Hassan. This novel was very emotional for me; it left me sobbing in my room, in my car, on my sofa, everywhere I read it. I felt what Amir felt. Hosseini's writing style was deeply engaging.

I won't spoil it by going into any detail but as much as I loved it, The Kite Runner was also incredibly difficult to read in parts. It was true to life in Afghanistan. I would put so many trigger warnings on this book. (For specific tw(s), please ask. I don't want to spoil it for anyone.) Some events were disturbing and the story was just so heart-wrenching.

The Kite Runner is a haunting novel, one that will stick with me for a long time. When I think about it, I think about love, forgiveness, guilt, and redemption. So much love. An overwhelming theme of love.

Would I recommend this book?

Because of some heartbreaking and possibly triggering events described within, I would not recommend this for everyone. But I would recommend it, if you can mentally handle reading about these events. Please check it out before you read it. The Kite Runner is incredibly moving and informative concerning Afghanistan, it's culture, and the terrible things happening in that country. I definitely recommend it.

I can't believe this book has been sitting on shelves that I've passed, maybe even looked at, since 1999 and I didn't read it until 2020. It's beautiful.

This is a collection of stories. Mostly told from the point of view of Jane as she moves from adolescence to adulthood. I'd say it's some form of Bildungsroman and a love story you didn't know was a love story. It's not a romance, but there is love. It's not a comedy, but there is humor.

Writing like this makes me feel even less qualified to write a review. Like so many other reviews have stated, it's a shame this beautiful and full prose is classified as chick lit because a woman wrote it. I don't know what to say other than it made me think and feel so many things deep in my ribs. I even broke out the page marker stickers for quick access to my favorite quotes because this is definitely staying on my shelf to reread in a couple years when I forget the gorgeous language I loved so much. It felt like sinking into a worn leather couch in front of the fireplace on a chilly night.

Would I recommend?
If you're looking for a Bridget Jones Nicholas Sparks romance, pass. But if you love prose and feeling things you probably don't want to feel, a million times yes.

This is my first V.C. Andrews experience. I watched one version of the Flowers In The Attic movie a long time ago, but this is the first I've read of her. I picked this up on the recommendation of MFM, and specifically for the prompt Recommended by Your Favorite Podcast/Vlog/Blog on the PopSugar Reading Challenge for 2020.

It's hard not to be spoilery but I'm gonna do my best because there are plenty of spoiler filled reviews on here. I don't believe in guilty pleasures (as I've said before), but if guilty pleasure was a genre of book, that's what My Sweet Audrina would be. The story starts with Audrina as a seven year old girl living at her family's estate, Whitefern. Her older sister, the First and Best Audrina, was killed on her ninth birthday in the woods next to their home. This Audrina, the Second and Worst Audrina, is therefore always cautioned to stay out of the woods. She has what she calls a “swiss cheese memory” with random holes and things unknown to her. She lives with her mom, dad, aunt, and cousin. They're all strange and elusive. We follow Audrina as she grows to be in her mid-20s and she's trying to fill in the pieces of her memory.

Doesn't sound like a Jerry Springer plot, but oh, it is. The cast of characters grows and develops, with us finding out more and more and EVEN MORE family secrets up until the very last page. So many times while reading this, I stopped, looked up at my husband, and said, “This is bonkers.” Unfortunately, I felt like the big plot twist and secret was pretty obvious from the very beginning, which is why I gave this four stars. But the writing moved along quickly and kept me entertained.

Would I recommend?
Definitely look up trigger warnings because there are some big ones that I'm not going to list, but they're easy to find on here or elsewhere. Otherwise, if you want an entertaining trashy mystery family secret book, YES. I'm definitely going to be reading some of her other books.

I've seen this book floating around the book community and recently saw a good review from an acquaintance and decided to pick it up when I saw it at my local shop. Trying not to be spoilery, so here's a quick synopsis. Nora hasn't spoken to her school friend, Clare, in a decade. But out of the blue, she receives an invitation to her hen night. She decides to go. The group is staying for a couple nights in a glass house in the forest. Nothing can go wrong there, right?

This is a fast paced read and I got through it quickly, as is the case with most well written “thrillers.” Problem was this wasn't much of a thriller. From the blurbs, description, and cover, I was expected to be scared. And I will admit, the setting of the glass house in the forest was enough to creep me out at first. But that's about it. The lead up is pretty quick and the action happens about halfway through the book, which had me so confused. The second half is strictly trying to find out who did it. I've never read anything quite like it. To be marketed as a psychological thriller, it was pretty lacking. The characters are pretty transparent and it's clear what's going on pretty early on. In fact, it was so obvious who the villain was, that I thought the psychological part would be that I was wrong and it was someone else entirely somehow. But no.

Would I recommend?
No, not really. I mean, if you don't read a lot of thrillers and you're looking for something lightly creepy for the autumn season, maaaaybe. But I've got some better suggestions, tbh.

This is one of the only books, if not the only book that I think I like less than the movie. I try my best to read a book before watching the corresponding movie but in this case, I saw the movie so long ago, I knew it wouldn't make reading the book any more slow for me.

The pacing is excruciatingly slow. Details upon details that I don't care about and will never remember. Such a good story within a story but the environmental details make it SO boring at times. I think I know more about the characters' environment that I know about the characters themselves and that's just not my cup of tea. But if you're here for that, definitely read this book.

I just don't know what else to even say. I expected a lot more from this novel. I watched the movie once years ago and all I could really remember was that I loved it. It was moving. The book, not so much. I really felt sort of disappointed and empty when I finished reading because I WANTED to love it. I wanted to feel the weight of everything said and done. But it was so bogged down in scenery, how could I?

I'm giving it 3 stars because the story is so well thought out.