Gabriela

This is the story of the Padavano family, but focused on the four inseparable sisters and the man one of them chooses to marry. We learn about their childhoods, their dreams, and how their lives might differ from the plans they had set for themselves. It's ultimately about the family dynamics that come from grief, mental illness, disappointment, trauma, and controversial romantic choices. I connected deeply with some of these characters, so that certainly influences how strongly this story affected me. It made me ugly cry many times. It was heartbreaking, hopeful, and deeply moving. If you liked Little Women, there's a good chance you'll enjoy this story. It has a strong chance of being my favorite 2023 release, but I guess we'll see by the end of this year!

What a moving coming of age story exploring the complexities of love, family, gender, sexuality, internalized homophobia/transphpbia, and even choosing a life path! Our main character has one of the most significant character development arcs. It took me a while to get into it because of where our mc started, but once they started peeling their layers, it was so captivating and endearing.

This autofiction novel will captivate readers who are drawn to enigmatic plots, deep explorations of identity, the interplay between reality and fiction, and intertwined storylines. The protagonist, a writer, leads us on a quest to uncover her family history while immersing us in the fictionalized account of her ancestor, Russell Boyt.

The story comes together seamlessly in the end, yet the journey to get there was not as engaging as anticipated. The primary challenge lies in comprehending the motivations and internal logic of the main character and Boyt, both of whom are not particularly endearing, making it hard to empathize with their journeys. While it took me a while to complete, I ultimately found the book rewarding. The author skillfully evokes a vivid sense of place and atmosphere through her writing.

As an audiobook, the narration is superb, although it would have been enhanced by the use of a male narrator for Boyt's chapters. Nevertheless, Taylor delivers an exceptional performance, skillfully handling both narratives.

Characters - 5
Atmosphere - 9
Writing - 7
Plot - 7
Intrigue - 8
Logic - 5
Enjoyment - 4

3.5 (rounded up)

This murder mystery was a whirlwind of excitement! The storyline was engaging, and I loved how the different subplots wove seamlessly into the main mystery. However, there were moments when the plot and characters seemed a bit too ambitious, leaving me craving more depth and development. I understand there are more books in the works, so perhaps this is just setting the stage for future adventures. Despite this, the book had me on the edge of my seat, and the plot twist completely blindsided me! It was a thrilling ride, though I wished I could have connected more with the main character.

Big shoutout to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts!

CAWPILE
Characters - 6
atmosphere - 7
writing - 6
plot - 8
intrigue - 9
logic - 7
enjoyment - 7

Edward Underhill has a great talent for writing characters that feel real, with dialogue that feels authentic. I liked this book a lot! To me, this is a novel about the stories we tell ourselves and how that can sometimes limit our ability to embrace new opportunities or to see the people around you in a new light. I can only imagine how alone young queer folk feel in small towns, so I hope this book provides hope that the world is bigger than the places they currently occupy. This is a very sweet, hopeful, and emotional story about trans and queer joy!

3.5 - If anyone could've made me a fan of short story collections, I would've thought it would be the master herself. I enjoyed some of these stories, but overall I did not enjoy my reading experience. It took me nearly 20 days to read such a short book, which is very unusual for me. Again, it's not bad and they're beautifully written, but perhaps my standards were too high being such a big fan of the other stories I've read from her.

Oh this was so fun! The writing was beautifully descriptive and the plot was intriguing. This is a light fantasy book, which is just how I like them. The setting switches from Buenos Aires and Cairo, bringing both cities to life. The characters were charming and had enough depth to make them interesting. There's action, mythology, romance, and adventure. I will definitely be reading the sequel, especially after that cliff hanger!

Thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for the ARC of this book, releasing January 30, 2024.

This is an enemies-to-lovers romance where the woman is the boss of a tech company, who is loved by her employees, while he's a ruthless business man in charge of acquisitions. He's coming to buy her company and she does not want to let that happen, especially not to him.

The overall story: The premise was quite fun, but the arc of the story was so clear that it was too predictable. In romance stories, we already know they end up together, so why make the rest of the plot predictable, too?

The characters: They both felt quite immature. I think making Nami and Jae's rivalry high-school based and having them still hung up on that was unfortunate. They both went to law school and the situation of the takeover was a good enough reason for them to be enemies. The valedictorian conflict just felt silly. For me to be rooting for a relationship, I need to find the characters compelling and believable; I felt neither thing reading this.

The writing style: This book was packed full of cliche phrases. Everything was written in the most basic way, reminding me a bit of how middle grade book characters talk. And if it was just the character dialogue, I could attribute this to their bland personalities, but the narration also had tons of them.

The audiobook narration: I think the narration had a big impact on my enjoyment of this book. This is going to sound harsh, but if I had bought this audiobook, I would've returned it and either DNFd the book or gotten the ebook. The female narrator, Chieko Hidaka, never let me forget she was reading a book. I did not feel the character was embodied by the narrator. The voice acting felt stiff and disingenuous. The male narrator, Donald Chang, was better at embodying his character and I could picture him more clearly.

Overall: I would've preferred to read this story as an ebook or physical book because something about hearing the dozens of cliche phrases per chapter made me cringe quite hard. The story had its enjoyable moments, but I did not have a good time listening to this.

“So I decide. Standing in this dank alleyway I decide I'll settle for a sliver of the love I want, in the hope that one day soon, there will be space for it to become more.”

I enjoyed this book a lot, while simultaneously wanting to shake some sense into this woman for the whole book. This novel provides a look at how disheartening and soul-crushing entering into the workforce can be, while being unable to escape the necessity of it. However, the main experience this novel explores is falling in love with a married man and what being the mistress feels like. It was difficult to read sometimes because we are in her head, which meant we were in delulu town for a while. The writing was fantastic (I loved the unexpected breaking of the 4th wall). It was funny, heartwarming, irreverent, and tense. I will definitely be getting a physical copy of this book!

I thank NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC of this book. I actually got it after the book has been released, so go get a copy if this sounds like it would be a good read for you.

4.5 - My favorite of the series, so far! This was the perfect mix of sweet & spicy, revisiting the charming characters of Lovelight Farms. I started this today thinking “hm, I'll add something lighter to my current reads so I can switch back and forth,” but ended up being sucked into this story and these characters. My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. These two are sweet as honey, but that does not reflect how hot some of these scenes were! I just love them. And now I'm even more excited for Charlie and Nova's book!

‘You don't let go once. That's your first mistake. You say goodbye over a lifetime.”

Honestly, who needs therapy when you read books like this one? I'm finding it hard to rate this fully as a piece of literary work because it was so incredibly relevant that I don't know if I can focus too hard on its literary merits (I'll give it a go).

Dolly has such a good talent for writing things in a non-pretentious way while still providing insightful commentary on life and relationships. Writing from the perspective of the man who got broken up with felt fresh and inspired. I also think it really captured how it feels to go through a break up when there's not a specific major issue, but rather realizing that a relationship isn't what you need anymore.

I would be curious to hear wether or not men think it's an accurate portrayal of the men psyche after a breakup (if my ex is reading this, let me know what you think of this book!). To me, it felt authentic, it was emotional, and funny. I recommend it!

It was cute and heartwarming, but repetitive and predictable. I wanted to like it, but every chapter felt formulaic. The writing style also feels dull and uninspired. It often happens when I read other Japanese translated novels , so it could very well be a cultural thing. It reminds me of reading YA novels where the author feels the need to over explain and tell me, rather than show me. It's fine. I enjoyed reading it, but I can't in good conscience give it more than 3 stars.

I enjoyed this a bit more than the first book, but it certainly wasn't perfect. Mainly because I was not as annoyed with Violet in this book (emphasis on the “not as”). I had fun with this plot, as it focused more on the conflict and answering some of the questions left unanswered in the first book. The action scenes were riveting and the book's ending delivered equal parts hope, sadness, and anger. I was sobbing by the end of the book. The romance part was the weaker point compared to the fantasy elements, even if I do overall like Xaden and Violet together. It's just not executed as well as it could be.

Some minor complaints (no plot spoilers):

-Violet, Violet, Violet. I liked her a lot more this book, but the conflict with Xaden felt much more forced this time. Her trust issues are so bad that I genuinely think the Healers Quadrant should dedicate a few healers to her therapy. She was being pretty unreasonable, but part of the reason it didn't bother me as much is that I knew that's how she was going to be. I tuned her out when she was being annoying. Our boy Xaden was trying his best and she was not making it easy.

-Side characters: Rebecca is trying to create a big world with this series. I get it. But there are SO MANY side characters I'm supposed to care about that most of them feel very underdeveloped. A more focused approach to side characters would probably make them more compelling.

-The writing: It's not that different from the first book, but I still some of the dialogue and themes feel quite superficial. Some people say it felt rushed, and that could very well be it. After all, both of these books being released the same year is a good indicator of this.

If you enjoyed the first book, I would absolutely recommend reading this. I had a very good time reading it and found a lot of the plot points very compelling and interesting. I didn't pick up this series expecting perfection, just a fun time. And it mostly delivered. I am invested in this storyline and will be picking up the next book.

Note: I read this book while also listening to the audiobook. I feel like it enhanced my reading experience and the emotions felt much more palpable. Take this into account as the medium one consumes a book can make the experience very different from others.

3.5 Joan Didion is a spectacular writer. I did find the exploration of grief interesting, complex, and nuanced. I found her tendency to focus on getting information and taking control in moments of crisis relatable. However, for a book focused on so many emotionally charged topics, this book made me feel nothing. I cannot put my finger on why this is, but it did not tug on the heartstrings in the way I wanted it to. If I had to guess, this same tendency to rationalize emotional situations to prevent yourself from feeling the full extent of the pain had the same effect on me, as a reader. It was good, but it wasn't great.

“That was the problem with women falling out of love; the veil of romance fell away from their eyes, and they looked in and could read you.”

This short little story captures the point of view of this man trying to come to terms with the fact her fiancee had changed her mind about marrying him. We get glimpses of the past, how he asked her to move in with and marry him, only to find the reality of it less than desirable. It's a story about misogyny, the reconciliation between the idealized version of what a woman can do for you and what they need from you; it's also about how small comments (said and unsaid) can have such a huge impact in how another person sees you and what you mean to them. Because you're seeing this from his POV, you also get a glimpse at the stories he tells himself to make sense of what happened, to shift the blame away from him.

Claire Keegan is a master at exploring topics in a subtle way in a very short amount of pages. This is certainly worth a read.

3.5 I liked a lot of the topics covered in this book, but, while it had its good moments, I was bored most of the time. It took me a long time to get through this book. The last third of the book was engaging, but the lead up to that was too slowly paced. I'm very glad I read it, but I didn't enjoy my reading experience with it.

The book is quite ambitious and covers a lot of themes that I found incredibly interesting, ranging from psychology, pseudoscientific health treatments, conspiracy theorists, media literacy, social media algorithms, love, open marriages, parenthood, and more. However, there were times when I got lost in tangents that were too far off from the plot or lingered for too long. Despite that, the book ultimately came together wonderfully. Both Jack and Elizabeth's journeys in questioning their histories, identities, and their place in the relationship broke my heart more than a few times. Jack is a romantic artist with a tendency for people-pleasing, while Elizabeth is a scientist who struggles to accept love and success. I found the tone of the book to be overall cynical, yet hopeful.

I would have given this book five stars if it were shorter and if it didn't commit one of my least favorite book offenses: chapters with no names or numbers. But all in all, I still recommend it. If you find any of the themes mentioned intriguing, then you will most likely enjoy this book. It's lengthy, but it's worth the read.

It was a fun read. The main character is pretty unhinged, but even with her questionable decisions and delusions, she presented very some interesting critiques of society's double standards and injustices (in terms of class, power, race, among others). I appreciate what the author was doing with both the story and its writing. It felt like a manic rant, which does help convey the mental state of the MC. She's simultaneously very introspective and self-aware while actively engaging with her most nonsensical conclusions. However, most characters in this book are unlikeable, hypocrites, and overall bad people. I don't mind unlikeable characters, but wow did I find it difficult to hold on to any relatable or redeemable traits! Ultimately, it was good, but not a must-read. Although for how short it is, I would recommend this. Read this in an afternoon.

Oh I this book was so good! I couldn't put it down. I felt like these things were happening to me instead of looking at a scene of these things happening, which is an extraordinary feat considering it's told from a dual 3rd person perspective.

This wasn't a slow burn, but the yearning was still so heartfelt and evocative! And finally, a contemporary hate to love arc that makes sense. I highly recommend this one.

3.5 - The writing in this novel is really well-done. It was a pleasant read, but I didn't find the plot particularly gripping. It's more of a cozy family drama, though not heavy on the drama. Lara, the main character, shares her past as an actress with her daughters, focusing on the summer she fell in love with someone who later became a famous actor. Reading this book was like taking a leisurely stroll through the park on a sunny day - enjoyable, but not super memorable.

Honestly, if I judged this book by its cover, I probably wouldn't have picked it up or had any clue what it was about. But I'm glad I got it as a gift because it was worth reading. Even looking at the cover now, it still doesn't seem to match the story, but somehow it captures the essence of reading the book.

The beginning of this book almost put me in a reading slump. Something about the pacing felt off. This felt like watching a reality show about rich people. The second half of the book did get better, the story managed to grip me, and I was satisfied with the story. However, I just didn't connect with the characters in any deep, meaningful way. Maybe I'm not the target audience, being a young woman without kids, but something about the writing style prevented me from caring about these fictional characters. I also feel like Mara's thing had so much more to give, and so much potential to add this additional element to the story. With so much tragedy and drama, I was hoping to feel something more as I read these pages. Alas, it's the story that we got. And it's a good story, but not a great story. It's probably a 3.5 if I could give half-star ratings.

I just reread this novel. Loved it just as much. It's just so full of soul. My cheeks hurt from smiling and my eyes are full of tears.

—-

I did not expect to be so blown away by this novel. This time travel love story hits all the right marks for me when it comes to a romance novel. The characters were well developed, the chemistry was strong and believable, and the anticipation and longing were written beautifully. This is a story about finding the perfect person at the wrong time in your life (literally), but also about the compromises that are and are not worth making as we grow up and pursue our dreams. How much do we owe our past self who dreamt up this life? And how do we stay true to that while still celebrating our growth? It also deals with topics of grief and mental health. It has soul and depth, while still being cute as hell! I cannot recommend this highly enough.

It all came together beautifully in the end, not from a plot perspective (there is none), but in the construction of this character. This book's narrator describes people who have been close to her throughout her life and have had an impact. In her descriptions, you get a glimpse of her worldview, her values, what she admires and what she fears. These descriptions also give way to reflections about their differences.

Here's a few of my favorite examples:
“I found her way of turning on and off both admirable and disconcerting. It insinuated that she had that thing known as ‘full control', which came across as mature, but there was an inhuman bent to it, too, an inhuman temperature.”

“She was an ocean of feelings, with more gradients and nuances than she could handle, as if the full cast of Greek gods and all the emotions and states they represented had been crammed in behind her eyelids.”

This is a character study in relation to people close to her. It's understated in its pursuit of the knowledge of the self. The last chapter really made it feel like all the fragments of this person came together and crystallized into a shape that made more sense to me as a reader. No plot, just vibes.

3.5 - This book had a bit of a slow start and lost me in some of the flashbacks, but overall I fell in love with this friendship group who bonded through the trauma of losing their college friend. They made a pact to throw each other funerals while they were still living and not leave anything unsaid about how much they've meant to each other. Through flashbacks of each of these character's funerals you get to know their stories and relationships with each other. I thought it was beautifully written and the last few chapters made me ugly cry more than a few times. It was funny, charming, existential and deeply heartfelt.

“It's all going to kill you, you might as well do something fun.”