kae

Pretty Standard, non-earth shattering book. I read this because Netflix is doing a spin off of Nurse Ratchet's life before she came to the hospital and all the shit went down that took place in this book. Overall, I think that this was good. There was a lot of substance here and I can see why in the '60s this was a big deal. We have come leaps and strides in the mental health sector of knowledge, however, we have so far to go. What is really interesting is the “total domination” factor of not wanting to ever address an issue (mental health) but rather asserting of total dominance over the subject through medication and a “we know best attitude”. The overtones and total Trump administration era, although this was written over a half century ago. If anything, the critics are right: this novel is a commentary on the inadequate treatment of mental health in this country, stemming from the fact that proper healthcare is not affordable and is essentially a privilege - not a right. The trickle down affect is that because of mistreatment, more violent tragedy is senselessly still present in this country today and no one is doing anything about it. Oh, is this what is meant by “keeping America great??” Do better America.

Bruh, Paula Hawkins is the queen of coming up with beautiful vivid plot ideas, characters and beginning steps. But DAMN does she SUCK at execution. I had to stop reading this a couple summers ago because I was so like uhhh. I'm sad at her lack of talent to conduct a story without majorly mistelling an originally very good idea. Same with Girl on the Train. Predictable af. DISAPPOINTED!

This book was really just not good. Very predictable. Very stereotypical. Not good psych thrills. Disappointed that every book I have read by Ruth Ware seems to go downhill. I'm sad about it and glad that this book was over in the end.

This is probably one of the best books that I've ever read in my life. My second time reading this has come almost 2 years to the tee since I finished it the first time. My July book club theme was Independence Day and great American stars and this hit the spot. Evelyn Hugo is one of the most dynamic main characters that I've ever met and been fortunate enough to know. (Yes I speak about her as if she's a real life person because I honestly feel like the character development was just that in depth.) There was so much going on with her in terms of her life from start to finish and the glimpses and timelines that Taylor Jenkins Reid covered and one novel was amazing. The actress lived to be 79 and we caught everything from start to finish. However, it never felt as though you were reading a biography. Rather, the main character's story wove into several others. Evelyn, her 7 husbands, the real love of her life, her biographer Monique, Monique's family, Connor and all the others were beautifully placed in the storyline. I think of them as “trinkets” in the story of Evelyn's life. So beautiful and amazing in their own rights, however they fit together so great. I was very impressed that Reid was able to have so many dynamic and unique characters interacting with one another for so many timelines. A true feat I will keep reading over and over 5/5 stars!!!

I thought that this was a pretty solid book. In many ways (without spoiling it) it was like a story within a story within a story. I think that the character development was mostly whole and there was a lot of growth throughout the novel. I've read a lot of “who-done-it” books and I had to say I didn't guess the end ahead of time. In many parts of the book, when they have an ending or who-did-it, they retrace their steps and remention things you've already read to piece the puzzle back together. I liked that a lot because it felt like I was having a conversation about the mystery with the book rather than me just trying to parce through it myself. Many elements in this novel are well written and subtle.... so pay attention when reading because everything truly does count in the end.

I really enjoyed Jessamyn's recounting of her life and the experiences she has had being a “non-ideal” yoga body, (society's words not mine). In fact, it is actually what brought me closer to the practice. I don't identify with the skinny-tall-white-blonde-perfect yoga stereotype. I don't agree with the instagram personalities urging you to dive deep into capitalism and egocentricism just to look like those girls. Modern society has made yoga out to be a mold that you, as the student, need to ‘bend' your way into (see what I did there). Where actually it could not be the opposite. Do you have a body? Yes. Do you want to do yoga? Yes? Then you have a yoga body. Plain and simple. I loved her approach to this practice. Chapters switch from biographical chapters of her life and what brought her to yoga, with Q & A's about yoga's most vulnerable questions from beginners (which is wayyy past trying to fit into the mold), and lastly with yoga sequencing and move guides. Her practice's aren't called the usual “Wake Up Yoga” or “Before Bedtime Yoga”. Jessamyn rather pair's an affirmation with her sequencing for practice. Her flows are called “I want to feel alive” or “I am in my body” or “I am powerful”, etc. This book has really turned me onto researching and finding out more about the other 6 limbs of yoga, minus the asanas and breathing. I love how she breaks down the limbs into a straightforward way and also gives you recommendations for where to start your yoga journey (books, etc.) and how to improvise if you don't have all this money to go buy all new yoga things. What I love most about her practice is that she makes yoga accessible to all– no matter your size, shape, gender identity, how much money you make, etc. I am very much looking forward to subscribing to her Underbelly yoga service as well. Would def recommend for a down to earth, lighthearted beginnings read to yoga.

Lol. I'm not gonna lie, this book was trash. There was nothing riveting about the story and fans of true crime should really steer clear of this. I had not intended for it to be like my usually murder/thriller book, but I think from reading those so often this seemed soft. Also: soft porn. I'm not super sure what happened here. In comparison to the first of the series, the author seriously disappoints. The story doesn't make sense. Storylines with well off people offer greater expanses in setting and dialogue. This however, was so choppy. First they're here and then Joe is killing another person and then they're here... just doesn't make sense. It's also soft in the way that everything works out for him all the time. And it's not because he's “good” at killing, it's just because the author doesn't have enough mental creativity to weave multiple clues together to get him potentially in trouble. Case in point: the mug of urine. Tbh, this was much better as a Netflix show. The characters were so much better and believable and I'm glad the writers of the show took creative license away from the book.

This book was a perfect “beach read”: not too in depth, hard to follow; rather just light and airy. Hence the 3 ⭐️. In a normal situation, this would have been a critical view. Lack of depth of characters, lack of sequential plot, but this was perfect for the situation. I wanted something that would fill in the gap between the heavy novels I've been reading. I demolished this in (just about) one sitting. It is an extremely easy read (the first half is a longer short story and the rest are various shorter short stories encapsulated into one book). Seriously, having read many many JoJo books, I can tell you that for what her characters lack in depth, it makes up for in story. Things in her stories just seem to make sense when glancing at them. Though upon further analysis you would find many flaws. For this reason I rather prefer to not have any grand literary expectations for her books. It's better if they just are what they are. They aren't award winners or historical list shatterers. But: the woman knows how to write a (borderline cheesy) romance novel. This one was great for light reading and would recommend for someone who didn't have any expectations for a light beach read.

Pretty good book. Solid 3.5/5. Had its hang ups, had its plus points. Totally written by a dude. Couldn't get past the awfully written “beauty” dialogue and embarrassing sex scenes. Nothing better than a guy describing what he thinks happens during a female climax... anywho, I did like that there were turns in the plot that gave the book more color. Many things were predictable so I'm those moments I found solid writing. All in all? Reminded me of an early 2000s action movie that is always on in the background of some family party before shit hits the fan. Brought me a nod of nostalgia in that way, but when you start picking apart those action movies, there are just SO MANY QUESTIONS. Sameeeeeee @blakecrouch.

What in the fing f did I just read. What happened in this book ? What didn't happen ? Is it all just a mystery wrapped in an enigma? The narrator remains unnamed, but does she? She. He. We. Me. This guy must have been schizophrenic. Time was talked about as being so important, not wasted. But this storyline was non linear. It was theoretical. It was ethereal but it was concrete. This was smoke and mirrors. Some bullshit? Maybe. But man will it stick with me like an unpleasant scar. Creepy and eerie. Wish there was more, but also don't. 3.5⭐️/5

This book honestly surprised me. Not because I expected it to be bad, but rather I didn't expect it to be so good! Fisher paints a beautiful and suspenseful picture of what it was like to be on the set of Star Wars when it was just getting started. I felt like I was pining over the latest gossip with my girlfriends over a fresh bottle of wine and a couple of late night greasy pizzas. I felt like I was Fisher's friend and her down to earth nature and complete frankness was hysterical. Would read again and would definitely recommend to anyone who has prior knowledge of the Star Wars universe and and wants a fresh take from a fantastic narrator.

This was good but DANG was there a lot of Yennifer in this book... perhaps too much for my taste. I tend to enjoy the storylines that take place outside of the overarching ones. Further: these “side quests” of adventure tend to hold characters of more quirky, and ecclectic personalities, as opposed to the usual. (Also side note: I guess in this universe sorceresses have the ultimate power and are the most untouchable beings? I don't hate it because feminism but I do find it magically underexplained at times) Many female characters emerge as prominent people in Gerault's life during this novel. Many overarching storylines get followed up on, less side quests (less Dandelion, saaaaad). Overall 3/5 purely just because I don't like Yennifer. 4/5 book series, 3/5 this book in the 4/5 series.

the new BIBLE. I said what I said. 5 stars. Hear-ye Hear-ye step off the diet train and actually love yourself (or respect yourself enough to know when you are being manipulated by a multi-billion dollar industry that capitalizes on making you feel unworthy).

This was one of those books where, in my opinion, not a whole lot happened. Perhaps I am used to the ‘murder most foul' genre, where brutal attacks are my forte, so this was mild. However, I really enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed the fact that, even though nothing happened, it was a true study in the human personality. I was fascinated by the author's explanation of the powerful women in the Owens' family and the personalities that were true magic. I am really looking forward to reading the other 2 (prequels?) I am still trying to get down what order they should be in. Anyways, the movie used to scare me when I was younger (ask Trish), but I believe that was on account of the brutal beating scene with Gillian and maybe the death? Oh how I've grown from that lol. Anyways, ramble aside, this was a good story about women who stick together through the thick of it all.

Pretty good book but def can tell it was written by 2 men. Rape jokes, constant violence (the title delivers) and the plot being a glorified dick measuring contest.

I'm glad the main protagonist is a woman. She's really funny and I like her personality. This story reminded me of Scott pilgrim a little bit.

Sci-fi isn't my genre but I'm reading this series for my 2024 book bingo. I will continue to finish it out but don't expect anything intricate or amazing.

When the plot is about a bunch of rich people trying to one up each other you get a lot of things that don't make sense. Like random tigers in combat? Or people living through stuff because of super advanced medicine/ cyborg technology even though they should be blown to bits?

Very Blake crouch-esque in the writing style. And now I know why I subconsciously always divert to female writers

I can't wait for the next book. This was so fun and an easy, fast paced read!

Good, didn't love it. Just meh. Really wanted more drama and less conclusions being pre-chewed for you.

This one was a hard one for me... I liked Henry a lot in all the other novels, but I felt like his character was so unaligned with the vibe he brought to the other functions. I found myself cringing so much at this because of how obnoxious he was. I loved Halle, but after awhile I felt like damn girl stick up for yourself. These characters made sense in the bubble they had for themselves, but I just couldn't relate or connect to them. Rates much farther below the other installments. And the ending... gah. So cringe. Not my cup of tea. Kind of disappointed.

3 stars, DNF. Only because I felt like I kept reading the same passage over and over again. The passage was great, but there's only so many times you can es plain the same thing over and over.

This book wasn't really what I thought it was going to be. Maybe because I don't have children and have never felt that pang of motherhood, but there where some parts where I found myself saying “wtf” in both a shocked and annoyed way (not the way you'd remark if you were reading a real page turner of a plot). The whole point of the book revolves around domestic violence, which is a hard subject for me to handle because anger at the patriarchy and that it's such a delicate position. My heart goes out to people who have been in and left domestic violence situations. So that coupled with the fact that a lot of these women where catty moms made me feel somewhat disappointed. I heard a lot of good things about this with all the hype, but while the book was okay, it didn't really live up to anything. I wanted to read before watching HBOs version and I just hope this is one of the plot lines that makes more sense on screen than on page.

This was NOT my favorite book in the Witcher series. There was a lot of floating around in stuff that just didn't really appeal to me. The beginning was okay and I liked the end (not bc it was the end but because they ran into vampires and explained how vampires work in this universe). The beginning had things about Ciri and Yen but it was like whenever it was getting good they would switch to a new chapter with a new plot. It was very annoying. I am looking forward to how this is set up for the next book however.

This was a good book, not my favorite, but still good. I very much enjoyed the author's character development for all of the women in this book. For a historical fiction set in a time where women weren't seen as anything but baby machines, Nella, Marin and Cornelia's stories bloomed pre to post climax. There were a lot of unhappy thing in this book, and it was not that I needed a happy ending persee. But, do I feel like the events that drove these characters to bloom neeed to be wrapped up because the character development theme was not enough to outweight the other themes generated in this novel? Yeah, actuallly, I do. I would give this a solid 3.25-3.5/5 stars.

Ya know... I'm not really sure what was happening. At like any point of this book. I loved the first, Damned, though at times it was slow (interestingly enough those points were where chuck fanned his extravagant vocabulary and provocative sexual innuendos). The first this was bearable, this Doomed left me feeling just that. I had ended up listening audiobook style which left me even more wtf???? than I was just reading. Real disappointed. I'm a big fan of Chuck's work, loooooved Invisible Monsters (read 2x which never happens) but this was a sad excuse for a sequel. Makes me wanna throw him in the streets like, SHAME ! SHAME ! SHAME ! (GOT crowd style)

I feel like the author of this book did a good job researching. The plot crosses many timelines in history between both the narrator's past and present with Bel Gardner's letters as well. But I kind of feel like in the end it was all just a tad bit shallow? I mean this was a good book but it wasn't great, which was semi-disappointing with a intriguing storyline. I just felt like this just didn't reach the level of depth I wanted from a book centered around art. Especially at the end, there was so much suspense and it had the potential to be so good. But Shapiro just jumped from situation to situation and it was like a bad 90's action movie. At the end and after all that jumping around. The final pages didn't wrap everything up in a nice bow, which the intense storyline so craved. Instead it was like a bad wrap job. Imagine getting a beautiful package for Christmas, and the contents is something that you have wanted for a long time. Now think about that item wrapped in beautiful paper perfectly with a bow on top versus it wrapped with uncrisp edges and with a whole roll of scotch tape–no bow. The content is still there, but you'd really rather prefer the nice wrap job. I'm sorry to say that the lacking option was The Art Forger by Barbara Shapiro.

It is because of this novel I became obsessed with the psychological thriller genre. Everything about this book reminds me of clue and the stereotypical large mansion of a house that looms over the horizon, beckoning the viewer into its large rooms with dark shadows, waiting to get you tangled in it's web. Christie weaves this tale with such poise and talent, you will be hanging on her every word until the book is done and you wish it had never ended. Extremely talented and intoxicating.