Teija
This was a perfectly acceptable second installment. McGuire really has me attached to her world building and characters but the plot here wasn't my favorite - this particular mystery wasn't actually entirely mysterious, so it felt a bit slow at points waiting for the characters to catch up and notice the things that were glaringly obvious to me as a reader. I'm pretty fond of these characters, though, Tybalt in particular. The things McGuire gets right are more than enough to keep me reading further into this series.
I fear that perhaps Pratchett's fans have overhyped him to the point that someone like me, who had never read a book by him before, is going to be underwhelmed when they finally pick something of his up.
Going Postal was my first Pratchett (excluding Good Omens, as it was a collaborative and thoroughly enjoyable endeavor). Going Postal was amusing; I snickered a few times and enjoyed the exploits of Moist von Lipwig. But upon finishing it I didn't really retain any impression after it. It was like watching a Disney Made-for-TV movie.
It was a nice way to take a break, though.
Despite what King claims in the afterword to be a lot of trimming, this book is still overlong. The characters are really well developed, which is typical for King (though Chester's Mill is FULL UP on terrible men) - and once the book gets to its climax everything is really riveting. But it took a loooong time to get there.
Raul Esparza does a great job reading the audiobook, too. He gives it a real relaxed storyteller vibe, and he does a lot accents for Mainers. Not sure how accurate they are, but he's definitely consistent.
This book has been sticking with me ever since I read it. It's a twisting, turning scifi thriller that takes you in one direction and then slams you in another, and the end result is a world that has you thinking for days and days. Really interesting conceit, and I can't wait to see where Worrell goes with it. Looking forward to the next book.
I don't feel right rating this so I'm not going to.
Britney Spears has been through so much. Her family has used her as a piggy bank her entire life, and men have used her fame as a shortcut to their own—it's no wonder she crumbled under the pressure. There are some appalling revelations in here: Justin Timberlake forcing her to get an abortion, Kevin Federline essentially extorting her using her children as bait, her parents calling SWAT teams on her and having her institutionalized for defying even small requests... the amount of control these people exerted over her could amount to torture. But she tells her side with grace, and even extends them compassion despite all of the ways they've wronged her. It's truly astonishing how big her heart is, and how much she has endured.
I hope she puts her evil fucking father away for the rest of his miserable life, though. “I'm Britney Spears now” is some cartoon villain bullshit. What the fuck.
A strong introduction to a really fascinating urban fantasy world in which the fae live among humans in parallel. McGuire has developed such fascinating political and interpersonal relationships in this book and set the stage for more. The murder mystery in this one is a great way to get your foot in the door and by the time it ended I definitely had the next one cued up in my Kindle!
This is a delightful and emotional time-bending romance complete with a magical apartment and a sexy chef. Wonderful.
A twisting, turning time travel murder mystery that had me gripped from beginning to end. It can be so hard to weave together multiple storylines and POVs and Lauren did such good work in this regard. I was just as invested in Lisa and Charlene as I was in Karl as I was in Justin and Rose... everything was well done, and the way everything came together was just masterful.
This was a twisting, turning story with unreliable narrators all the way through. Just when you think you're truly getting to the truth of it, another thing pops up to make you doubt something. And the title of the book itself has you going in from the get-go in sleuth mode trying to figure out what's real and what isn't. That this is set against the backdrop of true crime podcasts and Netflix documentaries, both of which are genres known for their biased reporting and clever editing, only makes it more interesting. What's real? What isn't? Is Josie nuts, or is Alix? Is everyone nuts? What's up with their husbands?
Anyway, I finished it and I still have no idea what's the real, honest-to-god truth, and I'm both cranky and not that Lisa Jewell clearly meant it to do that to me. Hah. 3.5 stars, but you know how Goodreads is.
A romantic thriller that does exactly what you want a romantic thriller to do. Solid main characters, interesting crime plot, and great tension between the wants and needs that resolved in a cute way.
I was on the edge of tears for 75% of this book and the other 25% was just straight up crying. This book is PAINFUL, like... in that good way, where the angst is earned and the emotions are real and visceral. These characters are lovable and yet frustratingly flawed, like real people are, and it was such a journey to see them come apart and together as a friend group (and Harriet and Wyn as a couple).
DNF.
The premise, first of all, is a real life nightmare. If I woke up deep into my career one day to realize I was two courses short of graduating with the degree I thought I had already earned I'd probably die on the spot.
But I couldn't get past the incredibly unbelievable “the plot demands this” scenario in which somehow this YEARS-out-of-college woman MOVES IN ON CAMPUS to do her two remaining courses?? With a roommate? Like the COST ALONE, never mind how intensely frustrating it would be to move into dorms for literally half a year. Absolutely not. I can't.
Ali Hazelwood really knows how to make a former academic feel validated, if anything else. Jack and Elsie were both characters that I wasn't sure how to feel about. I don't think I actually like Elsie, at the end of the day, though I can completely understand and empathize with her struggles with adjuncting and desire to find something better. The conflict with her mentor seemed too easily solved. Jack was enigmatic and never quite completely materialized for me. Overall, I enjoyed myself. If Goodreads allowed half-stars I'd give it a 3.5. Hazelwood's strengths remain the same, compared to The Love Hypothesis. The story is full of typical romance tropes that, if you love them, make the story super satisfying. And if you don't, well... at least you know what you're getting. She doesn't reinvent the wheel, but she does give you a really high-quality tire, at least.
Julian Vos is more interesting in summary than in action — a history professor with Anxiety (capital A) whose family owns a vineyard and who has taken a sabbatical to write a book! But in action he's kinda hot and cold. There are some great moments but I found him aggravating as often as I found him charming.
But Hallie Welch? PROTECT THIS DELIGHTFUL CINNAMON ROLL DOG MOM WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT! I love her
An interesting and fast-paced read. Very unsettling to get the serial killer's POV alongside the investigator! Neat twist, too.
Unlike the collections of short stories that precede it this is a full novel, and was a bit short on action–there was a LOT of setup, both character development-wise and worldbuilding-wise, so I'm sure it will pay off as I continue the series. But as an individual installment, this one dragged a bit.
This was super cute. An adorable little friend group of misfits with wonky or lacking magic, a tall and immensely sexy leading man with a complex past, and a main character who manages somehow to be possibly the single horniest lead I've read in a WHILE whilst still managing to come across as adorable, rather than despairingly thirsty. I'd say 3.5, honestly, but rounding to 4 feels too high.
I really enjoyed this one! The characters were likeable and the plot was compelling. I particularly liked Jacob.
When an author touts her own book as “fat girl getting railed” it's a massive disappointment when that fat girl spends the whole book being so unhappy with herself. She's every fat protagonist of every fat girl romance: she has no friends, the people in her life keep her around so she can be the one who stands there being fat so they feel better that they aren't as fat as she is... it's nice to see endo rep but when it doesn't really affect anything about the plot it feels shallow. This man had his pick of women to choose as a mate and her endo should have had some weight there, because it can and does have an effect on fertility, but the author whiffed it.
The smut scenes are honestly overlong and uninteresting. I love a good smut scene, and I love a protracted one if it feels earned. But I found myself skimming the smut, which to me is the death knell on a supposedly erotic story. There was a distinct whiff of “this person came from fanfiction and wasn't interested in learning how to polish their smut for publication” to it. I read a ton of both fic and romance, there IS a difference-namely that the published authors who are good at this have learned to evoke intense sexuality and emotion with an economy of words. That's not to say you can't have a long smut scene, but if it's going to be long, it had better be phenomenal.
This is evidently the beginning of a series... but based on this, I won't be bothering with Elle M. Drew again.
Emily Henry is just out here rolling 20s on emotional damage every dang time. This one didn't dehydrate me like Happy Place did, but it was still a moving and emotional story of two people with believable flaws and captivating personalities. I loved Charlie and I loved Nora. Now I need to take a break to recover before I pick up another...
This was intensely moving, a great study on grief and the way we come to view our parents in a certain light without really examining it, due to their roles in our lives. With an incredible twist that you should 1000% NOT spoil yourself on, this book is a creative and charmingly written love letter to a mother-daughter dynamic and the journey to find oneself. Truly enjoyable.
Will Pennington is so !!!!
Savannah's family dynamic is TERRIBLE, though, and I had to do deep breathing exercises at one point because the way they treat her made me so
mad. IMO it isn't ever satisfactorily addressed.
But Will... chef's kiss. SOLID leading man.