Mahala

I chose to read this book because the PopSugar Reading Challenge I'm working on includes a western. I've never read a western before and I'm always willing to try something new. You never know. This novel is 160 pages and I should have read this in a day or two, but every single time I tried to read it, I fell asleep. No joke, I seriously fell asleep four or five times reading this.

I didn't find any fault with the writing style, but this was one of the most pointless books I've ever read. Not a single character had any sort of backstory or personality, they were all one dimensional and we know almost nothing about them. It was a book full of side characters. We've just stepped into a single day in time knowing nothing about these people, and are stumbling through trying to figure out what's going on and who is who and you never really figure it out. Weird and confusing plot. I'm not even really sure what I read at this point, but it was not good.

Would I recommend?
No. I'm sure there's a better western out there if that's what you're into.

Daniel Handler is a genius. I know this isn't going to be any sort of formal review but I have to say something. Or rather, do something.
This book is SO well written. It's witty even when it's serious, it has the perfect amount of everything. The characters were not one dimensional, I came to know them as separate people with individual personalities and could predict which person would do or say what in a certain situation. And the twist at the end. ...This review is spoiler-free. But I didn't figure it out until about a page before it was revealed and now I want to go back and read the whole thing again in light of my new knowledge.
I've just finished it and I already miss the characters, I want to read about them forever.
The Basic Eight is brilliant!

Brilliant. I picked this book up on an accidental whim. I had extra time in town before work and ran into our local used bookstore to find something to read as I forgot my book at home. I happened upon this and since How To Be A Woman has been on my TBR list for ages, I decided to go ahead and take this home with me. I read it all in a couple of days, between jobs. Caitlin Moran is hilarious, intelligent, and relatable. This collection of essays is just personal enough to have not only made me laugh and cry, but made me feel like I know her. If I lived in the UK, I would buy newspapers just to read her column. Her interview with Lady Gaga is one of the best I've ever read, and when I read her review of Sherlock, I felt like I was hearing Moriarty say, “I will burn the heart out of you” again for the first time. I got chills.

I laughed, I cried, and I'm so looking forward to picking up her other work in the future.

To be totally honest, I went into this book expecting to hate every word of it. Lately it seems that every popular YA book is either dystopian, fantasy, or a combination of the two. The Selection just seemed like yet another play on a Hunger Games type story; this one just added The Bachelor into the mix. And in regards to that assumption and pretty much all the others I made, I was correct. The characters had ridiculous names, one dimensional personalities, and the story was absolutely typical. Now I know that I probably shouldn't have even read it because of all the assumptions I make about popular dystopian YA, but this one had a gorgeous cover and a few of my reader friends love the series so I thought I'd give it a shot. It lived up to all my low expectations BUT I couldn't put it down. In the past I have really struggled with finishing some YA dystopia (i.e. The Maze Runner) but this one I finished in a day, only pausing to get a drink or a bathroom break. I'm not sure why I was so enthralled in it considering my previous opinions, but I didn't hate the characters despite their flat personalities and struggle with being just too beautiful and kind. I somehow felt a connection with them and although it was predictable, still wanted to see what happened next. I actually really enjoyed reading the book, the imagery was lovely, as well as Cass's writing style. I plan on reading The Elite and I'm anxious to see what happens with the rebels more than anything. What are they looking for??

I'm not one for writing reviews but...this is one of my new favourite books. The author's writing style was lovely. The entire novel was somewhat dreamy and ethereal. I loved the inclusion of details concerning the setting and the nature around them. I fell in love with all the characters as soon as I started reading. I couldn't put it down. It was a really emotional and beautiful book and one that I'm sure I'll read many more times and recommend to friends.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. I have been looking for this book forever just because I enjoyed some of E. Lockhart's other work. I am so glad I finally found and read it. I have so much to say about it but I'm going to try to keep it short.

I have to admit that from the description, I would probably not want to read it. BUT the story is SO good. It's about power, privilege, and feminism. Frankie was (almost) the perfect protagonist. She didn't take crap from her white, rich, privileged boyfriend. (I'm not really sure why she liked him in the first place though. But from a fifteen year old viewpoint, I understand.) She recognized that he just wanted her to be a damsel in distress. He wanted her to be cute, seen but not heard, as girls should be in the white man's world. ”He expected her to become part of his life, but he didn't become part of hers.” Multiple male characters wrote her off as overly sensitive (infuriating to read.) So Frankie decided to rebel and take down the patriarchy, show them that not only was she pretty, she was intelligent.

I love the themes of a secret society as well, and what they're really about. This one in particular was about white men securing power, privilege, and other white, powerful, privileged allies. It was about feeling special because they could “rebel” unrebelliously, have attention shown to them, feel like they were better because they had a secret. “...but it was part of their mission as a secret society...not to be entirely secret. To be a mystery about which people know just enough to wonder what else there is to know, so that memberhisp in the society holds a certain cachet.” Good god, lemon. I love this book.

PRIVILEGE. Themes of white privilege and the privilege that comes with wealth. Male privilege. And a mixture of all three. The power that comes with privilege. Just, it's so important. “They were not afraid to break the rules, because consequences rarely applied to them. They were free. They were silly. They were secure.”

My only problem with this book was that in the second half, Frankie seemed to flip-flop between wanting to show those rich white boys that they weren't so special, that girls could be as intelligent as (and more so) than boys and wanting to accepted by them, loved by them because they were special. I was confused because that's not how Frankie seemed in the first part of the book. So, I felt she was unreliable. But I am choosing to write that off as she is a fifteen year old girl. Things aren't always clear and easy when you're fifteen.

That in mind, this is probably one of my new favorites. It was smart, funny, and feminist. If I had read this as a teenager, it would have changed a lot of things for me. This is a powerful novel, all while being hilarious and highly entertaining.

Would I recommend it?

I would recommend this book for everyone. If you are a human being, read this book. If you are an extraterrestrial that can read English, read this book.

I am in love with this book. I'm in love with Monninger's writing. I wish I could go back to school in New Hampshire solely so I could be one of his students. I'm completely infatuated with his work.

I feel like my review is going to be totally biased considering how infatuated I am with the author's writing style and the fact that it appeals to my senses in every way. Possibly all of this has to do with the fact that my Myers Briggs Type Indicator is INFJ. I know a lot of people don't believe in that type of thing and maybe I wouldn't either if I wasn't INFJ. Ha! It's a vicious circle. Honestly, though, I thought MBTI was totally overrated until I scored as an INFJ. It completely fits who I am in EVERY way. It's amazing. That being said, Eternal On The Water (as well as Monninger's The World As We Know It) completely fulfills everything I could want in a book. It's dreamy, ethereal, chock full of nature, themes on being one with the land and nature and peace and quiet, love and it's about SOULMATES. Like, real soul to soul connection. Otherworldly. (Come to think of it, maybe Monninger is INFJ. Mental note taken to ask him if I ever have the pleasure of meeting him.)

Now, on to a review of actual substance. Maybe.

I picked up this book a couple months previous to reading it. Monninger's The World As We Know It is my favorite book. I didn't want to rush through Eternal On The Water, I didn't want it to be over before I even started reading it. I finally decided to pick it up because I was in a terrible reading slump and I knew Monninger could get me out of it. I read it really slowly at first, savoring every sentence. Halfway through, though, I couldn't put it down.

I fell in love with both Cobb and Mary immediately. I appreciate that all the characters had real lives and real problems, the characters were flawed and that made them all the more relatable and loveable. I'm having a hard time talking about it without giving too much away. I've talked about myself more than the book.

All I can say is that Joseph Monninger never fails to impress me. His writing style is intoxicating, it flows wonderfully and pulls you into the story. You're in the Maine woods, you're on the river with Mary, you're swimming with turtles in Indonesia. I never wanted to put it down. I'm in love with the characters, the story, the writing, and the nature involved. I've said this about Joseph Monninger before but, he really knows what he's talking about when it comes to researching the nature and outdoors involved in his work. It's beautiful, ethereal, honest, rugged, and flowing.

This book will rip your heart in half and put it back together. It will make you believe again.

I recommend it for people who enjoy nature, soul to soul connections (but not cheesy romance), and books that make you cry.

I understand that I am probably not the intended audience for I Feel Bad About My Neck. But I grew up watching Sleepless in Seattle on a regular basis and was excited to read something by the screenwriter. I was supremely disappointed.
This was the most pretentious nonfiction book I've ever read. Honestly. Am I really supposed to be sympathetic that a rich white woman feels like she just HAS TO get a manicure weekly? Or that she spends enough money on getting her hair colored every year to buy a CAR? What a terribly sad life she has. I don't think she could have done more name dropping if she tried and the humblebragging was out of this world.
I made myself suffer through the entire second half even though it made me want to puke. But if I'm being honest, I didn't finish the last 4 pages, it was already way past redemption.

I could go on for hours about the shameless privilege but I'll leave it at this: you will gain nothing from reading this book.

Smoke Signals is a beautiful portrait of love and heartbreak, depression and healing. Ashley captured in words each of those feelings and created a heartfelt, moving book out of it. It's in four parts, my personal favorite was “rebirth,” it was absolute gold. I also love how in one way or another, almost every poem stuck to the theme of fire, it made the book really flow and each poem related to the next.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl is a story about three generations of women in the Wise family. I believe the point of this novel is to try to answer whether each generation of women is doomed to be exactly like their mother or if they can change their course. It seems this was meant to be poignant and moving and affect us all in some deep way but honestly, it was terrible and dull. This was a story about a woman trapped in a loveless marriage who devoted her life to doing everything for everyone except herself, her daughter who is also trapped in a loveless marriage with an alcoholic, and HER daughter who is miserable because she ends up cleaning up their decades of messes. It would be depressing but it's too bland to even incite such feeling as sadness.
I had really high hopes for this book and I feel like it COULD have been good. It had potential but it didn't play out.

First of all, big thanks to NetGalley for the chance to review this ARC.

I love a good psychological thriller and Read Me seemed to fall into that category. Read Me follows a man who believes that he is doing studies in people but in reality he is a totally creepy stalker. Over the last 4 years since he has been unemployed, it seems he has stalked around 85 people at least. He gives bits and pieces of information about these people but presently focuses on one woman, Frances.


I had a lot of expectations for this book and some of them were fulfilled while some of them were completely unaddressed. It was totally creepy and made me feel like this could happen to anyone, it's so simple in this age of technology and gave me that uneasy feeling of omg has this happened to me? But otherwise, it was just mediocre. One scene in particular dropped an entire star in my review for this book. It was unnecessarily and unexpectedly descriptively gory. I felt like it was out of the blue and had nothing to do with the plot. It was disappointing and gross, honestly.

The ending fell flat for me, as well. It had SO MUCH potential to be totally creepy but ended up just being eh.
If you're in the market for a stalker novel, go ahead and pick it up. But if you're just out here looking for a gripping psychological thriller, I'd pass on this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good psychological thriller so I was excited to read this one. The Proposal is the story of Pippa, a divorced, unsuccessful romance writer that is desperately searching for her next story. A felon shows up at her door and she invites him in on a whim, hoping to get a story out of him. She gets not only a story, but a whole lot more.

This book is nuts. I truly don't know where to start or how I feel about it, weeks after I've finished it. Pippa is massively unrelatable. She makes terrible and ridiculous choices over and over again (see: inviting a felon you've never met into your home at night, alone.) That being said, I loved the story anyway. It's crazy and ridiculous and I got so angry at Pippa, she's not the brightest. But I also couldn't put it down and had to know how it ended. The writing is captivating.

Would I recommend The Proposal? Yes. If you like a good psychological thriller, this isn't the MOST suspenseful but the ending is worth it. Stick it out for the ending alone. So crazy good.

Deb Caletti writes how controlling relationships feel like no one else. This book is bananas from start to finish. True, it may start a little slow but it is definitely worth powering through if you're wondering. It builds in terror just like the real thing would feel until you've GOT to see what happens, you've got to end this. As always, it's so well written. It's smart and moving and has words of wisdom peppered in. I started the book not sure who to fear more and it ended with a twist that I should have seen coming but honestly, I didn't.

I wanted to like this book. I read the description when I picked it up from BookOutlet and it sounded promising. But it was poorly executed and it definitely reads like a debut novel. Margot isn't a likeable character. I mean, maybe neither was I at 15, but I would like to think that I didn't make EVERY bad choice possible and wasn't that judgemental and narcissistic. She doesn't have really any redeemable qualities. In addition to that, there's no real character development for Margot. It's kind of a sudden jump at the end rather than actual development. Every other character in the book is one dimensional. There's no chemistry. It's just all around FRUSTRATING. Everything is shallow, it was hard to read. Also, there is no need for that much conflict. There was so much going on it was hard to keep up and there was no real plot.

I was so unsure about even reading this book, honestly. I didn't feel like Me Before You needed a sequel. But I'm glad that I was proven wrong. After You was lovely and sweet. Maybe it didnt bring me to my knees sobbing but it was very sweet to be able to follow Louisa as she learned how to move forward. I love that in this series, all the characters have a story. Side characters aren't just pieces of furniture in Lou's life; they have their own lives and stories and character development.
After You was sweet and calm and lovely and now I want to follow Louisa onto her next adventure in Still Me.

I believe Zelda would be proud. And doesn't she deserve that? I have so many emotions and it's hard to process those into words. This novel was sad, sweet, moving, and so many more adjectives that I can't find right now. The author did a magnificent job at putting fact together with fictionalized details. I would say that it's not far from the truth and it did a great service to Zelda.

I hate reviewing classics because about 16 billion people have already reviewed them but I promised myself I'd review everything I read this year so here we are.

Not gonna lie, I dread reading “classics.” And as I read classics, I often wonder who on God's green earth has decided to keep referring to these books as classics. WHY are they classics? Simply because they're old? Because many times, search as I may, I cannot find another reason why these stories would be so highly honored.

That being said, I was very pleasantly surprised by The Invisible Man. This is the first H.G. Wells I've read and I wasn't disappointed. Being originally written in 1897 (I believe), I was expecting some boring, difficult to read novel. Instead, I got a witty, funny, thought provoking, easy to read story. The writing flowed, wasn't halting or boring, and at times was even funny. I'm really impressed and I honestly look forward to reading another Wells novel.

Would I recommend this? Yes with no conditions. I deem this appropriate to be called a classic.

I picked up this book because I LOVED Dumplin'. I was excited to read another fun, flowing, powerful story by Julie Murphy. And maybe it's because she was still finding her voice, or maybe this was just the exact novel she wanted to write, but I didn't find what I was looking for in it. I found this book really disappointing in a few ways. The premise is that Alice has cancer. Alice is dying and she basically wants to complete her bucket list with the help of her childhood friend, Harvey. But then she goes in remission, so now what?

The first thing I didn't really understand or enjoy was the fact that her entire bucket list was just a list of revengeful acts. Alice wanted to get back at people that had wronged her instead of enjoying the little time she thought she had left. I didn't find this entirely realistic. I cannot claim to know what it feels like to have an expiration date, thankfully. So I don't know. Whatever.

To go along with that thought, I found Alice to be exceptionally selfish, bratty, and just a mean girl. Honestly, she used her best friend, played with his feelings, and tried to ruin multiple people's lives knowingly. She's a spoiled, mean girl and I don't feel she gets any redemption at all.

The last two pages saved this book for me. Harvey's character seemed real to me. He had a personality and a backstory that I felt was believable. The ending that he got was redeeming of the entire book, although I do have reservations. But I'm brushing them aside because I like Julie Murphy.

Would I recommend this book?
Put this book down and go read Dumplin' instead.

Everyone is just doing the best they can, even if that's not very good.

Flora Banks has anterograde amnesia, which means she has no short term memory. I thought the author did an amazing job making the reader put themselves in Flora's place. Many people are saying that they didn't like the book because it was too repetitive. Here's the thing. It's supposed to be. Flora has to constantly read what she's written herself to know what's going on. When I finished reading this book, I felt a little brain broken myself. I put myself there in that spot and it was frustrating and frightening. TOMOFB is beautifully written and heartbreaking on so many levels. I feel that I can't say much without giving away the many twists and turns.

The thing I was worried about going into this book was that it was a “love cures all illness” trope and I was gonna rage if so. But thankfully, I was proven wrong and I'm glad I chose to not judge preemptively and read it! Flora kisses a boy and when she wakes up the next day, she still remembers it. It seems a bit dicey that she would remember her first kiss and nothing else but trust me, it gets explained. Don't let it stop you!

I've given this book 4 stars because of the masterful storytelling and beautiful writing but also because I felt the ending was a tad lacking, it was hinted at quite a bit throughout and I could've done with a little more surprise. But all in all, lovely and gripping, I couldn't put it down!

A very vanilla YA love story. Sierra is looking for a winter vacation fling and Caleb is looking for redemption from something in his past. Queue the insta-love.

I feel like What Light is written more middle grade than YA, but it's not? I don't know, this one was weird. It's very vanilla and a very easy read. But I didn't NOT enjoy it. I mean, this book is fine, there's nothing I hated. I'm sure some people didn't enjoy the good old insta-love trope, but I'm not one to knock it because I met my husband and knew I was gonna marry him like a week later. But just because I didn't hate anything, doesn't mean it's necessarily a good book. The writing was fine, the story was fine, the characters were fine. I don't have a whole lot else to say. The setting was beautiful and Taylor Swift-esque. But otherwise, I'm shrugging here. It's a story we've all read before.

Would I recommend? For a young teenager, maybe 13, yes. For an older teenager or adult? Not unless you just need a quick, easy read for your Goodreads Challenge.

Okay, so I'm going to attempt a spoiler free beginning.

The plot of the novel is two children, Chris and Emily, who were best friends and grew up like brother and sister because their families were so close. This later blossomed into a romantic relationship that was so close, they were basically the same person. But one day, Emily ends up dead and Chris in the hospital with stitches in his head due to a supposed botched suicide pact. But as we delve further into the lives of Chris and Emily and their families, we see another story emerge.

Pros: I couldn't put it down. I HAD to know what happened. In fact, as I was finishing this book, I sat down and told my husband that my reading time was important to me and he had to stop trying to show me YouTube videos because I had to know what happened at the end.

I appreciated the plot point of look what forcing two people together can do. We often see the enemies to lovers trope. But Picoult pointed out that she wanted the opposite, star crossed lovers who's families pressured them together all of their lives and the affect this can have on two people as well. It was really interesting, a narrative I haven't read before and enjoyed.

Listen, I'm an INFJ and I'm ALL for a sad book. And this one was devastating and heartbreaking for Emily and the families of these kids. It made my heart ache at points. This is a pro for me. Any book that actually makes me feel something is okay, even if I irrationally feel for characters that are total idiots. Which brings me to ...

Cons: I hated the main character, Chris. I understand that he was supposed to be a teenager and maybe just making bad decisions, but COME ON. Okay and HERE COME THE SPOILERS SO STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED.
Chris is the worst character. I was an absolute imbecile as a teenager, I made such bad choices. But I would NEVER have agreed to assist in someone's suicide, even if they were the person I loved the most. ESPECIALLY if they were the person I loved the most. That's not love. I'm sorry, but it's not. And if Chris was supposed to be so wise beyond his years and so in love with Emily, then he would have known to reach out, tell anyone. When she opened up to him about suicidal thoughts, he should have, and any rational person would have, sought help from anyone they could have. The idea that he would help her kill herself because she asked him to is ABSURD.
Second con, absolutely NO WAY he would have been found not guilty. That was the dumbest thing I've ever read. I don't even need to elaborate.


Would I recommend this? Yes. Although this is a controversial novel, I think Jodi Picoult is a great storyteller that always leaves me wanting more. If you want a good story with a sad plot, this is it. But trigger warnings: sexual abuse, suicide.

This book has below average ratings and some scathing reviews for “not being scary enough.” Now, I don't generally read gore or horror so maybe it's just my lack of perspective, but I was chilled by this book. But more so, I think it's because none of these people have been gaslighted. Maybe they're too desensitized by overindulging in horror lit. Idk.

As someone who has been stalked and gaslighted before, this book was a chilling reminder of how horrifying it is. Before every kill, the murderer gaslights their victims by opening and closing drawers, leaving items in odd places, moving furniture, etc. They do just enough to scare them, make them wonder if they did it themselves. I know from experience how unsettling it is and how scary it is to wonder if someone is in your house watching you. This was the most frightening part to me, the emotional tension. The murders themselves weren't terribly gory, but I don't think that's necessary to be scary at all. I think a balanced amount of blood was written in.

Now, folks, this is YA. So yes, of course there's a romance element. And from the time I realized this, I wanted to hate that aspect. But in a fun surprise for all of us, I didn't! Makani and Ollie are well written characters and their romance felt legit, complete with teen angst, family problems, and sexual tension. It didn't feel cheesy, insta, or forced so I actually enjoyed reading about it. They seemed like friends.

As for background characters, wth with Makani's parents??? They are absolute garbage monsters. Which makes me upset but unfortunately, it's reality for many people today. And I HATED the “townsfolk” who thought a serial killer would apparently never be able to hurt anyone they knew and kept leaving their children alone day after day and the people who used it for fun scares on Halloween. I was like “people cannot possibly be that dumb.” But then I remembered the state of the world right now during COVID-19 where people are seeing the danger and running right to it. So I guess that part actually cannot be discounted as unbelievable.

It's 1956 and Hitler won the war. Yael escaped from a death camp and is now part of the underground resistance working and plotting to rid the world of Hitler. Yael enters a cross continent race to win the iron cross and attend a ball with Hitler, where she will finally kill him and start the revolution.

I'm a sucker for anything WWII related. I'm fascinated and repulsed by it, of course. So I've had this book on my TBR forever. It didn't disappoint. I was a little surprised by the skin-shifting element just because I didn't know about it before I started reading, but it's so interesting and I really liked the idea. Ryan created a whole new world and reality after WWII, she did an incredible job with world building, including details that weren't even necessary to the story but helped imagine exactly what the world was like in the wake of Hitler's win.

I won't give anything away but there is some slight romance hinted at but it's not in the way you would think, which I LOVED and can't wait to see what comes of it in the next book. No annoying tropes, which is a win. And the ENDING. The ending. Most of the twists and turns in the book, I saw coming because I've read too many YA books. But the ending I did not anticipate for some reason and I yelled “NO!” and threw my book down. So yeah, pretty great ending that made me really happy I bought Blood for Blood at the same time, which I'm going to start reading as soon as I post this review.

Would I recommend?
Do you like YA, WWII fiction, and historical retellings? Then yes, for sure. It's a tough and sad read in places, as anticipated. But worth it, for sure.

4.5 stars!

I'm so conflicted about this book so let's do pros and cons. Bad news first.

Cons:
I feel like this book could have been so much shorter. The copy I read was about 480 pages and I feel like this could have been condensed to 250-300. The first 300 pages are “journey,” the characters traveling from one place to another. And I was so bored. I was dying for them to just get there so the story could move on. Because there's no story in travel. I feel like it's just obstacles put in the way that I'm bored by because I KNOW they're going to overcome them and get to the destination, that's the point. So I really didn't enjoy the first two thirds of the book and feel like it could have been MUCH shorter and I would have enjoyed it more.

Pros:
I loved that some characters joined the resistance and were welcomed. It made me think about how these days people act like everything is “theirs” because they knew it, liked it, were part of it first. And they never allow other people to grow and learn and join them without a fight. I really appreciated what the author did with that aspect of the story.

Luka's meeting with real Adele, finally. I've been waiting for this forever and wasn't disappointed.
That's all I'll say.

I have more thoughts but I'm not going to include them because they're spoilery! I wanted so much to know more about real Adele. I wish that we had known more about her either in the beginning of this book or the end of Wolf by Wolf. I know that Iron to Iron has more info about her and I'm looking forward to reading that for that reason, but I wish it was included in the main duology. It felt missing.


3.5/5 stars, rounded up.

Would I recommend?
Did you read and enjoy Wolf by Wolf? Then yes, fam, you gotta find out what happens.