Jenn
Simple, beautiful, informative, and sweet. It definitely opened my mind and heart and I won't think about animals, plants, or food in the same way again.
Read this in basically one sitting and couldn't put it down. Some brutal topics and imagery, but beautiful writing as well. Loved it.
I dog eared the crap out of this book. A beautiful, hopeful apocalyptic story that has me calling my mom just to say “I love you” and makes me question my life and the choices I make.
Survival is insufficient, indeed. Loved it so much. Will definitely be one to reread.
For some reason I struggled to get through this book. Lots of good bits but felt long. This can get kind of woo woo and law of attraction-y so skip it if you're not into that stuff.
Very unexpected memoir. A beautiful story about grief, childhood passions, facination and fixation, and the different ways we cope. Highly recommend.
This will get you out of your creative funk. It will inspire you, if you think you're creative or not.
So well done. The author masterfully captures grief and the longing, searching, and targetless anger that goes with it. It's a beautiful and painful story of loss and a family unraveling. I love how you care about the characters, then hate them, they are complicated and flawed, but you love them.
This book started off so great, but too many characters all with complicated back stories slowed the whole story down for me. Gave up at 60%.
The writing is lovely and vivid and creepy, but I did not enjoy the story. I don't understand the hype.
The main character is annoying, childish, and daydreams all the time. She doesn't have a name. She doesn't really show much growth outside of really leaning in to her puppy love idolization of Maxim. The book is written from her perspective, so I think that's why I couldn't love it like so many others do.
The story is pretty incredible, but I had a lot of trouble staying focused. It was a slow start and it felt a bit like work to finish. I listened to it as an audiobook and the narrator was a little on the monotone side which didn't help matters. I might have enjoyed it more as a paper or ebook.
A fresh take on the zombie apocalypse with a surprising perspective and unexpected feels. Couldn't put it down.
Loved the first part, I thought it was setting the stage for something really fun. It got such good reviews I pushed through, but after the first handful of chapters I had no idea what was going on, why the characters were acting the way they were, and kept thinking I missed something. I'm a bit jealous of those that loved it, I wanted to!
2.5 stars
A good book, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her work. For me, this was an ambitious novel and tried to take on too many things. It was really long, and my favorite parts and characters were glossed over despite the length (like Dike and Obinze.) I also struggled with not really knowing Ifemelu. For as long as the book is, I don't feel close to her, but maybe that's because she's most often observing and commenting.
It could have been half as long with half the themes and it would be stellar.
A tiny, beautiful, and crushing story. It's super short and potent and I can feel it haunting me already.
The only downside was a stylistic choice of the author. I agree with other readers that the lack of capitalization was annoying. I got used to it, but towards the end she explicitly writes about learning capital letters I felt duped. Still well worth a read and a reread, though.
Meh. I was expecting more of a story, some growth or change to happen, or for it to do what the cover said and explore her changing relationship with her mother (I really wanted to read about that!)
In the end it was a diary of places she went, things she ate, books she read, and stuff she bought. Ok, but I just thought there would be more. I'll probably keep it around to refer to when I visit Paris someday, and because I really liked the drawings.
I loved these characters. It's a lovely, thought provoking, and heartbreaking story. A good reminder that we can impact others, but not change them.
Did not finish. 1.5 stars anyway because I crossed the halfway mark.
The first few chapters were fun, and I enjoyed some of the prose, but the 3 timeline and constant flashbacks storytelling was so annoying to manage. It felt like a lot of work to read so I gave up and googled how it ends. It's a shame because the story is interesting, I think this could have been much stronger told in a single timeline where it was easier to follow the plot and you got a chance to attach to the characters.
A funny, entertaining, and quick read. I love memoirs and this is a good one. I learned a few things: primarily, carry cash. It's also a great book for building empathy for hotel workers, I totally do a few things on his don't do/don't say list. I'm looking forward to being a better guest :)
It was ok, but not about minimalism, really. The five keys to living a meaningful life (health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution) is an interesting way to examine your own.
A sweet sad story about a sweet sad girl. It took me back to my own childhood playing in the woods with my cousins. This is a special one.
It's an interesting and inspiring concept, but could have been an article or blog post. It's so repetitive it's unreadable (and kind of reductive: everything “bad” is because of a fixed mindset, everything “good” is because of a growth mindset). I read some other reviews to see if it ever got deeper than anecdotes and praise for her own work and it doesn't look like it does. Giving up.
I wish I had 6 stars. Nearly every single page has an underline and I've dog eared so many pages that the book is twice it's thickness. A great read for anyone who loves Steven King and/or is interested in writing. There are a lot of life lessons and little pearls of wisdom as well. The tone is conversational, but it never comes off as preachy or corny. King is truly a master.