Zell

I feel like some of the twists were a little obvious as I was going through, which in a thriller is disappointing for me. But the characters were incredible, the plot was a wild ride, and the ethics discussed here were also deeply interesting to me.

Really interesting info and a cool past/present split like Maus has, but I struggled to distinguish the characters in the past narrative.

Some hits and some misses for me here, but the theme and the vibes were do consistent and yet diverse. I really enjoyed this collection.

Heartbreaking and beautifully narrated. I loved the varied perspectives, but would have loved a little more of a plot or a conclusion. The types of characters and their experiences really carried this book though, making it totally worth the read.

Interesting and thought provoking but not sure how I feel about the fact that this was written by a white guy. Or about the fact that the movie came first.

This was absolutely horrifying and twisty in the best way. It gets really suspenseful earlier than a lot of thrillers but carries that energy throughout it so well. Such a good plot and so well carried out. And it has a queer main character, without queerness being a major plot point, which makes it even better!

Books about parenting aren't my cup of tea, and although there were some things I liked here I didn't feel engaged. And it has food poisoning, so -1 star for that as well.

A little slow and meandering, but ultimately absolutely beautiful. This is definitely more character-driven than plot-driven. I love the magical realism, the way everything comes together, and the family relationships and intergenerational explorations. This was lovely.

Really interesting recipes and history! I only give a cookbook 5 stars if it has a picture for every recipe, but everything else about this is great.

I've never read such a boring and pretentious description of sex. This was so dry and vanilla, and the author described everything so clinically that I felt entirely removed from the story. Some of the rationalizations were interesting, and this could have been something really sexy, but it just didn't get there b

This kind of parallel mother and daughter narrative is always intriguing to me, but I felt bored and annoyed with the characters for most of the book. They make such terrible decisions and it doesn't feel realistic.

Maybe I'm just not smart enough or informed enough for this book, because I found it confusing and dull. There's so little action or plot, just a lot of political dialogue that made no sense to me. I did like the overarching theme of loyalty, but the execution didn't work for me.

A little too political for my taste (it can be confusing) but the characters and conflicts had everything I love about Jemisin's writing.

Interesting, with some really unique and endearing characters. I feel like there was more room for exploration of faith and it didn't get fully resolved. Additionally, it was odd how different Antonio was from the other kids his age - he is a fully developed and insightful character, while they feel like caricatures and seem to have the intelligence of toddlers.

This book manages to keep the same characters and create an entirely different conflict and plot, which can be hard with a sequel. Fantastically heartbreaking descriptions of PTSD, which were hard to read but also good to see. This was over the top but somehow still more realistic than I'd expect.

This book was weird and surreal and utterly entrancing. It drew me in and held me. I'm a fast reader, but this made me slow down to read every word and really take it in. I would have loved a little more character development but I understand why it played out the way it did.

Beautiful and so full of information, stories, and pieces of the author's life. I love the focus on nature and how we interact with the world and her creatures. A little dense but so worth it.

Interesting and worldview-expanding recipes. I didn't enjoy the interview portions and would have loved more pictures, as the recipes are totally new and without pictures I'd have no idea what I'm making.

Really interesting and delicious-sounding recipes, but a little hard to navigate because there are recipes needed for other recipes and you have to flip back and forth.

Maybe this is just too smart for me, but I felt like the stories were dense and pretty dull. The prose style didn't do anything for me.

This book had so many new characters that I had a hard time tracking who was who and which sketchy thing they were doing. However, the plot came together beautifully and the backdrop is just as charming as it has been from book one. The food sounds fantastic as well.

So beautiful - the illustrations, the story, and the characters were all perfect and touching. I cried at the end.

So complex and so incredibly well executed. I loved the characters, the creepiness, and how twisty the plot was. Everything about this was amazing, and Brom is truly a master storyteller.

Some of the characters felt very two-dimensional, but the plot and Eleanor were so fantastic that this was still a really enjoyable read. Sometimes things happened that felt way too convenient to be realistic, but it drew me in and captivated me from start to finish.

To get a five star rating from me a cookbook has to have beautiful photos, an image for each recipe, things I've never seen before, and descriptions that make me feel like I can taste the food. This had all of that!