Stephanie

DNF. Part of the reason I loved the House in The Cerulean Sea was the character development as he interacted with the kids, the love story was my least favorite part because it felt unrealistic and haphazardly written. Under the whispering door is almost like reading just the love story from THITCS and once again it feels unrealistic and boring. Are we really supposed to believe that this man who was absolutely hated his entire life will suddenly become a better guy just because he has a crush on the ferryman? It would be okay if the plot was interesting enough to carry it, but really nothing happens. I got about halfway through before realizing this book is just not for me.

Just a magical and heartwarming story, I I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

I got this book as a gift and went in completely blind. I didn't even read the back cover and I had no idea of the controversy surrounding it until I added it to my “reading” list and noticed a huge split in reviews. As I read the reviews, I went into the first few chapters with caution and felt guilty for enjoying the story - I kept waiting for the controversy to become apparent... but that never happened.

So, I'm going to star this PURELY on the writing and story itself. And frankly, it's a damn good book.

I was immediately taken into the story, I could not stop reading. This is a thriller from beginning to end and I was on the edge of my seat for the characters. It's obviously a tough read, a lot of trauma and awful things happen to these characters on their journey. I do feel like the author did a decent job of giving vivid descriptions to invoke emotions without it feeling gross and over-the-top.

As for the criticism, please keep in mind this is A WORK OF FICTION, and at no point does it try to pose as something else. The story is engaging, the characters are interesting and the threat feels real and urgent. It's good writing and it deserves attention for that. If you don't like the politics surrounding the novel, don't read it and pick up something else.

To say a book shouldn't be written because you don't like the content is censorship and just plain silly. If you're on the fence about this one because of the reviews, read it and form your own opinion.


Also, because I haven't seen actual recommendations in the sea of 1-star reviews, if you want true stories about immigration to the US, I've heard the following are decent options:
The Devil's Highway: A True Story
Enrique's Journey
The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail

There's a lot I liked about this book and there are a few chapters I skipped. If you've tried organization and find the work falling apart because your, not a full-time homemaker, this book is for you. There are some great tips for dealing with kids, spouses, and roommates as well as some simple cleaning tips. If you're already a super organized person you might skip some chapters (specifically the first couple). There are some repetitive ideas but I think for the right person, this book would be really helpful.

Yikes. This book reads more like a diary of how much these people hate clutter than a book supposed to help you clear the crap. There's hardly any tips in here to get you motivated to clean up, and the few that are included are VERY basic. A lot of the tips are also downplayed by the fact that the authors say it's okay to keep a shirt you haven't worn in 25 years... etc etc. If you want a book to help you declutter read “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” instead.

I can't get enough of Mindy. Her books are always hilarious and entertaining. She's inspiring by being honest and blunt.

I have never read a book written by a woman where I was entirely convinced was written by a teenage boy. How does such an interesting concept turn into such junk? I almost dnf multiple times, but it was bearable on audiobook at 2.75 speed so here it is. How in the hell did this book get listed as BOTM??

When I started reading this, I loved it, I thought it would definitely live up to the hype and it'd be an easy 5-stars. The idea of old gods making deals in the woods with desperate souls is simply intriguing. However, I felt like a story about a woman living 300 years should include a little less about her one-night stands and a little more about how she spent her days.

As I got to the middle of the book, I felt like my review would be closer to the 2-star range. Henry is downright boring, I didn't care for his character at all and I wasn't at all surprised to find out why he can remember Addie. As I reflected on their relationship a bit, I also decided Addie is boring. Her entire personality rides on her stubbornness against Luc. Addie LaRue is not that short of a book, there was plenty of time to develop these characters and show an arc of growth, and yet, as I finish this book I think it's forgettable.

By the end of the story, I felt like the whole thing was less of the adventure and reflective novel I expected, and more like a predictable love story. I think if I went into this book knowing nothing about it and not knowing how popular it was, I would've enjoyed it much more. but unfortunately, it was just okay. I'm giving this one a solid 3.75

Things I loved:

- The concept of planting an idea instead of real memories. I think this so accurately reflects how art and great works are created, because most of the time art is not based solely on true fact, but rather our interpretations of an idea.
- Luc takes on the image that Addie creates. It's creepy and sinister in subtle ways and I loved it.
- The writing. The author is obviously incredible, I've heard her other books are as well and I want to keep reading them because her descriptions were simply beautiful.
- Little bits of how Addie influenced art and history - although I would have liked more of it.

Things I disliked:

- Plot holes galore. She can spend entire days with a guy and somehow he never has to use the bathroom, or notice that everyone else forgets her when they order food, drinks, etc? Seems unlikely.
- Henry and his friends. What a boring bunch of jerks. It felt like the author just ticked off a bunch of boxes during character writing that should have produced an interesting guy, and somehow just missed the mark.






SPOILER








- Luc is truly in love with Addie. This god has been alive for, presumably, thousands and thousands of years (if not longer) and for some reason falls for this one human with literally no personality? I'm sorry, it's just ridiculous. I kept waiting for him to turn on her, or show his true evil. And the fact that Addie doesn't love him but he loves her, just yikes.

This is one of those books that you'll sit down on the couch at 9 am on Saturday morning and start reading and you'll finish at 11 am with last night's mascara running down your face, your world completely changed and your life seeming suddenly irrelevant. Okay - that might be a bit dramatic, but this a great book. The characters seem so real and the story, even though you might have a feeling about what it is - is such a surprise. I never cry while reading or watching sad movies, but this one broke my heart. It's somehow sad and peaceful at the same time, though.

Read this and then recommend it to all your friends.

I have to say that I actually REALLY enjoyed this book. I think it was a bit too woo-woo for my liking, but the basic idea of stopping your complaints and going after what you want is awesome and well laid out in Jen's story.

As a Christian - you could replace “the universe” and “source energy” with God and Jesus and it's the same exact idea. I think Jen has really unlocked a simple and often forgetting idea here - fear only has power when you let it define your life.

I'd recommend this book to anyone starting a business, struggling in their job or suffering from an unhappy situation.

DNF. While I know the author is trying to make Kaikeyi “perfect”, it also makes her boring. I understand she was making the contrast of men to women more apparent, but it gives “women are better than men which is why we deserve basic rights” vibes. This is the kind of feminist twist that I think does more harm than good, women deserve better because we're part of humanity - not above it. All that aside, it was just boring, I stopped a little over half way because I was forcing myself to read it and at the end of the day, I want reading to be fun.

I absolutely loved this one. Magical realism and slow burn story telling are my love language and this book is a beautiful blend of the two.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It took me a month to read this one and it's because I spent each chapter, journaling, noting and digging into scripture while I read. There are two parenting books that I will read and re-read and this is one of them. (The other is Parenting by Paul David Tripp).

Raising young kids is tough and isolating and a constant feeling of not being enough. This book is a much needed pause and reminder that God's grace covers it all. I've loved the risen motherhood podcast for awhile now and this book is such a perfect summary of everything they teach.

I'm always hesitant to read books like this, since they tend to read more like a blog post than an actual book. I'm happy to say I found this to be more like a Bible study and I loved every page of it. If you're a mom, or plan to become one in the near future, I highly recommend this read.

DNF at 63% because I can't listen to more boring history retellings. There are no connections between the events that happen other than the fact that they all happened in the 1990s. The other ads nothing new to his historical synopsis, and I would argue that the pieces of history he chooses to pull out are mostly boring.

So much of culture and society shifted as a result of the Internet boom in the 90s yet that topic was barely touched on other than simply recounting some of the updates that came at that time. I should've read some of the reviews and more of the description before jumping into this, but it truly, it's just a history synopsis and not at all something I'm interested in as I lived it all.

I really enjoyed this book but the ending was a bit unsatisfying. I felt like it was predictable even though you didn't really get a full picture through the story, it was a good read and perfect for a book by the pool but it's probably not one I'd remember years from now.

I was seriously disappointed with this book. First of all, I paid $16 for a book that took about 2 hour to read. Second, I felt like I was reading a documentary about how immoral and corrupt our business industry has become.

The tips and ideas the book offers to be a better business owner are common sense - be honest, be transparent, put people first. It took 200 pages to give 3 basic tips everyone should know. The rest was filled with stories of big brands and how they screwed up in the past few decades. I was hoping for a business book about building a company around people and I got a long rant filled with fluff.

Every 10 pages or so there is an entire page taken up by a short quote. Good idea in theory, but they are randomly placed in the middle of a paragraph or sentence. The billeted lists, check boxes and graphics also take out a ridiculous amount of room. With sections every 15 pages or so, the actual content (with a regular sizes font as opposed to the strangely large font used in this book) could've taken up 70 pages.

The ideas are good and all, but it reads like a giant pat-on-the-back to the author and his success.

I'd give this more of a 3 1/2 stars. I don't agree with everything Jen Hatmaker says and does, but nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book. There were a few things theologically that I disagreed strongly with. It was a bit disorganized and honestly there were times I felt like the book went off in a totally random direction. I did really love Jen's outlook on her family and her faith, though. Life is messy and imperfect. This book is a great reminder that between a hard week (or year, or season), an extra glass of wine and a total emotional breakdown - there is a whole lot of grace and truth to get us back up and living again. It's a good read if you aren't looking for a “Christian book” but more a fun book by a Christian author. It won't teach you anything about faith that will change your world but it might help you get through Tuesday with a little more optimism.

I wanted to reread this series ahead of the Netflix movie for the books. I wish this held up better but it is 100% made for 12-13 year olds. The writing is immature and the dialog is unnatural. We listened to it on audiobook which made it worse. The amount of description about the hover crafts and boards is strangely in-depth and completely unnecessary. I gave it an extra star for the nostalgia but I'm just hoping the show is better than the book because it's pretty bad.

This was a very interesting read - but it reads like a textbook and honestly, it could have been cut in half. That being said, I learned a lot and I think it gives a more balanced look of American history than we get from school alone.

I read this book in high school for my english class and it turned out to be one of the best books I've ever read. The way it's written is unique, SPOILER ALERT the fact that the narrator admits most of the book is a lie is just fascinating to me. I love the idea that a story cannot truly capture a moment without lying about the details. Overall it's just an amazing book and I would read it again and again.

DNF, too boring

This was a book filled with a LOT of issues - as in, Price Harry needs serious therapy. The first 60% of the book was plain depressing. I don't think many people would disagree that living as a royal comes with a lot of crap - Paps, lack of privacy, lack of freedom, lack of support when you're going through tough things - like your mother dying, for example. At the same time though, Harry makes repeated stupid decisions well into his late 20's - from doing coke, mushrooms, playing strip poker in Vegas and surrounding himself with people who REALLLLYY love alcohol - Harry doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes and has very little regard for how those decisions impact his family. He seems to spend most of his free time partying and complaining.

I cannot image having so little privacy or choice in life, but it seems Harry has very little interest in learning about the world, culture or how “the average person” lives (reading books would fix 90% of this). He has very little interest in education, even as an adult and it's painfully obvious he grew up in a bubble - he seems like an incredibly boring person despite his crazy lifestyle.

The reason I'm rating this so low is because this really seems like reading someone's private diary. Spare paints Harry as the underdog that becomes the hero and it's cringy, embarrassing and boring to read. I don't give a crap about his frost bitten bits, his phone being ruined by water and writing dramatic love letters to Megan or his complete lack of awareness of how his choices impact his loved ones - but those are the details he thought important to share with the world.

I know next to nothing about the royal family (honestly I couldn't tell you the names of any of them before reading this book). I never watched interviews with anyone, I haven't seen the crown and I don't watch any news stories about the royal family. This is all coming from someone who couldn't care less about who they are or what they do. So my review comes from a very neutral place and you know when I say that Harry seems like a spoiled brat who didn't get enough love as a child and also has some traumatic events happen to him, you know I am getting that directly from his perspective on life. Why are the royals even a thing? It seems absolutely bizarre to me.

I really liked this one, the characters are all awful in their own ways, but I love character stories and I loved the small evolutions each of them make as they go through a year of life together. Of course, they are all rich snobs, but they are still human (no matter how annoying) with their own human problems and stressors. They are all just trying to survive, and while money is no problem, relationships and heart break and health still are. I think it was a simple and beautiful read.

I might update the star rating to 4... for now, this is 3.5 - it was fun and I finished it in one day but I cannot stand the lack of communication from this group of adults. How are they this bad at keeping in touch and discussing their problems after 10 years together?

I also normally HATE second chance stories, but I'll give an exception to this one because it seems like these two barely actually broke up - the fact that they didn't tell anyone for 6 months is ?????? If there is one thing I hate more than second chances, it's a poor communication trope and oh my lord, it's on level 1000 in this one.

All of these couples need couple therapy and probably some individual therapy too. How are all these people couples and still not married? What do you all have against marriage? They're all a mess and insanely immature.

That all being said, I love the dynamic between the characters, the romance felt well-evolved and real and I personally thought the flashbacks were well done. I liked Book Lovers more just because the characters were at least a bit more mature - but I really wish these characters were in college rather than their late 20's to early 30's.

Was this book ghost written? These are not the same characters, the plot twist is predictable, the character morals shift with no notice. It's all awful and I'm angry