Super cute, with the best analogy about life in the form of matches. IYKYK
An entertaining, easy read...but very reminiscent of a lot of o3 - 3.5 Stars
Super cute, with the best analogy about life in the form of matches. IYKYK
An entertaining, easy read...but very reminiscent of a lot of other books in this genre. A good time, but nothing life-changing or anything. Which is perfectly fine. I liked it and will read from this author again....more
So this was my first Kristin Hannah. I've actually had The Great Alone sitting on my shelves for years now and The Nightingale in my Audi4.5 - 5 Stars
So this was my first Kristin Hannah. I've actually had The Great Alone sitting on my shelves for years now and The Nightingale in my Audible library...and I've just never cracked them open for whatever reason.
Regardless, I am happy that this book was my first foray into her writing, because it was excellent. I decided to "read a few chapters" (famous last words) at around 7:30PM last night...and ended up staying up until midnight to finish it.
What a great and powerful story.
I was not alive alive during the Vietnam War. But I remember its effects permeating my childhood. The grizzled, broken veterans. The stories of PTSD. I was raised on Vietnam protest music (which is still my favorite today). But most of all...My uncle fought in Vietnam. And although I never knew him before the war, obviously, my dad told me that he was never the same when he came home (lucky as he was to do so). And when I was 9-years-old he ultimately died of Leukemia that the doctors believed was related to Agent Orange...something Hannah mentioned in this book. So I've obviously thought about this era a lot.
And I think this was a beautiful story that captured the confusion and duality of such a tumultuous period. I think Hannah did it justice. And I am so happy to have learned about the amazing forgotten women who served.
I will definitely read more from this author and understand why she is so popular now....more
This was my second Jojo Moyes books, and much like my first read by her, I really enjoyed her writing. She is very talented and writes3.5 - 3.75 Stars
This was my second Jojo Moyes books, and much like my first read by her, I really enjoyed her writing. She is very talented and writes great characters. The pages fly. But again, like the other book I’ve read by her (and rated similarly) this just didn’t hit enough to be a true 4/5 star.
I still really enjoyed it though.
I loved Bill, Gene, and Jensen. And the play scene was specifically memorable. I also liked Celie’s character arc. I think I wanted more from Lila’s. Not that her’s wasn’t decent. Something just felt missing for me.
Favorite quote: “Because it’s only hurt people who hurt people.”...more
I really enjoy this author’s writing. This is my third read from her and they have all been solid 4+ stars so far. She writes very nuanc4 - 4.25 Stars
I really enjoy this author’s writing. This is my third read from her and they have all been solid 4+ stars so far. She writes very nuanced, layered familial dynamics against great settings. And that was true here as well.
I loved the town of Potsdam and the community of characters. I also really liked the way that the story unfolded. I don’t care for books that start in the present and flashback to the past, forcing you to make your way back to the present the entire way. But this bounced back and forth at a good clip so the reader never felt stuck in either timeline.
I loved Kyle and Casey’s relationship. Wyatt was such a great character. And the kids were all great too. Solid read all around. Some grief trigger warnings though for those who might be sensitive to that at the time of reading....more
I love train wreck characters, so this book’s blurb was like a siren’s song when I saw it as a December Book of the Month offering. I also wa4.5 Stars
I love train wreck characters, so this book’s blurb was like a siren’s song when I saw it as a December Book of the Month offering. I also was very interested in reading the POV of someone a year into their sobriety journey.
I felt a kinship with Emma and enjoyed reading about her experiences with her parents and the general effects of enmeshing yourself with another person. What that can look like and how it can affect your identity, especially as an adolescent. I also LOVED Ben.
I have a few very minor quibbles (thus the less than 5-star) but I really enjoyed this. I just love stories about childhood and family trauma, drama, and any and all the accompanying -amas....more
This was very entertaining and I read it in one sitting.
I thought the story flowed well and the characters were well fleshed out. I am always 4 Stars
This was very entertaining and I read it in one sitting.
I thought the story flowed well and the characters were well fleshed out. I am always intrigued by darker, twisted theme elements and this satisfied that very well also. In true "thriller" style, not to mention the foreshadowing element of title, this definitely had me wondering what was true and what wasn't throughout. While I will say that I was never shocked, per se, I enjoyed the anticipatory tone and feel of the book overall. I also enjoyed the doubt the author nailed into her own ending.
This was actually my first Lisa Jewell book (crazy, right?) and I will for sure read more from her in the future. I actually have one on my shelves I should dust off and finally tackle. ...more
I loved last year's The Last Love Note by this author and was excited to pick this up when I saw it as one of my Book of the Month offerings. L3 Stars
I loved last year's The Last Love Note by this author and was excited to pick this up when I saw it as one of my Book of the Month offerings. Like that one, this one also involved a deceased spouse.
This one tried to tackle a lot of other topics as well. And while I appreciated the effort at the nuanced approach it seems the author was going for...it felt poorly executed in my opinion. Most of the "secrets" and and answers that were finally revealed in the end didn't seem worth the build-up. And again, I appreciated the topics and the efforts at nuance...but the ending payoff didn't fulfill the promise of the building tension.
That said, please remember that three stars means that I DID like it. In fact, I read it in one sitting and was very engaged by the story. I just didn't love it, that's all. I can totally see this hitting for other people. And I do seem to be a bit of an outlier based on some of the other earlier reviews that I've glanced at.
I will definitely read the author's next book....more
This is my second Laura Dave book and I just love the way she writes. Her prose, her pacing, and the painfully bittersweet tone of the two bo4.5 Stars
This is my second Laura Dave book and I just love the way she writes. Her prose, her pacing, and the painfully bittersweet tone of the two books I've read by her so far...chef's kiss.
I read this in one sitting as I couldn't put it down. And not because it was fast-paced or fraught with activity...quite the opposite. It was very slow moving. In fact, I figured out the most of the hidden secrets before the end, but I didn't even care. Dave's writing just lands for me. The way her characters experience and come to grips with relationships, grief, and the human condition in general.
"'Will my being gone knock it out of him?' She shrugs. 'The parts I don't recognize.'
I nod. That's what we are often fighting against, isn't it? The parts in someone we don't recognize. The parts we are trying to reconcile."
Likes: The overall tone of the story. It had that haunting quality that I love and it kept the ex3 Stars
I thought this was good, but I didn't love it.
Likes: The overall tone of the story. It had that haunting quality that I love and it kept the expectation pedal down on the impending answers to come. I also loved the time period and the setting.
Mehs: The writing was a little more all over the place than I prefer...A lot of filler and pages/descriptions that did nothing to move a scene, character, or the story itself forward. There were also POVs seemingly out of the blue that felt unnecessary. And I felt connected to exactly zero of them.
And don't even get me started on Jacob. His whole character and arc felt gratuitous. What he brought to the ending could have been accomplished in a much more realistic, nuanced way through another character or method that didn't feel so out of place.
Dislikes: The ending. So many loose ends. I love a good open ending, but this left me unsatisfied all around. So much could have been done with it. So much detail and pages of character arcs and efforts that went exactly nowhere.
Oh well, as I said. I think I'm an outlier on this one....more
Being the quintessential dumbass that I am, I decided to start this at 7:30PM last night...and proceeded to stay up until close to 1AM to finis5 Stars
Being the quintessential dumbass that I am, I decided to start this at 7:30PM last night...and proceeded to stay up until close to 1AM to finish it in one sitting. Never mind my 4:30 wakeup today.
And thus my dumbassery. Because I know I have a tendency to do this, I try to avoid starting new books right before bed on work nights. So I'm super tired today.
But?
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I loved everything about this book. And I felt so unbelievably connected to Phoebe. And Lila. And the setting. And all things. My favorite book I've read this year thus far, for sure....more
I enjoyed this well enough. I figured out a lot of the twists before they happened, but I was still very entertained. In fact, I ended up re3.75 Stars
I enjoyed this well enough. I figured out a lot of the twists before they happened, but I was still very entertained. In fact, I ended up reading this is in one sitting, which always bumps a book's rating up for me.
The tone was a good blend of haunting/creepy and I am always game for a creepy kid with potential psychopathy. So there's that.
All in all a decent read. I like author.
Favorite Quote:
"'Often, what we see in art is a reflection of us. Of our optics. Our mindset. Have you ever tried to read a novel and not enjoyed it, then gone back at another point in time and loved it? The story didn't change. But you did.'"...more
It's very...of its time among other things. But I really enjoyed it once I got used to the writing sThis book will definitely not appeal to everyone.
It's very...of its time among other things. But I really enjoyed it once I got used to the writing style. It's a heartfelt look at marriage, personal expectations, the expectations of others...and our own assumptions and push/push in regard to all of those things.
That said, I don't think I could say it any better than my friend Julie G., so I will just be lazy and point to her outstanding her review instead. Enjoy....more
I just love Emily Henry. At this point, are a lot of her books, characters, and character banter very similar? Yes. But I don't care, 4.5 - 4.75 Stars
I just love Emily Henry. At this point, are a lot of her books, characters, and character banter very similar? Yes. But I don't care, because I am 100% the target audience and I am here for it. All day. Every day.
"Trust people's actions, not their words. Don't love anyone who isn't ready to love you back. Let go of the people who don't hold on to you. Don't wait on people who don't hurry for you"
I just love Henry's writing and the way she unpacks elements of the human condition to which I so relate.
And did I mention the banter?
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I loved Daphne and Miles and I thought they had great chemistry. Some of Henry's past "friends to lovers" scenarios lacked that spark in my opinion...they just never felt like more than friends to me...but these two were adorable while also not feeling like brother and sister. So yay.
I also really loved the side characters. I want an Ashleigh.
As always, I cannot wait for the next Henry book....more
And this was exactly the book I needed right now. It was sad and wistful and joyful and happy and, in my opinion, just theTiming really is everything…
And this was exactly the book I needed right now. It was sad and wistful and joyful and happy and, in my opinion, just the right amount of sappy. It exemplified why I love this author even when some of her books don’t land for me. Cause when they do, it’s all worth it.
The characters… The angst… The amazing banter… The balance of sadness and hope…
I enjoyed this for sure, but I also know I am definitely in the minority in not loving it. I really like Jacob and Briana as characters. Alth3.5 Stars
I enjoyed this for sure, but I also know I am definitely in the minority in not loving it. I really like Jacob and Briana as characters. Although, I will say I was always very aware of them (and everyone else) being just that: characters. I enjoyed the writing, but, again, most of the characters just felt a little flat to me for some reason. Not sure why. Some aspects felt less organic and more like checkboxes, to be blunt.
I appreciate the sentiment and focus on anxiety. But Jacob and Briana read more like friends to me. ...more
I know this has nothing to do with this book (for those reading in the future who don't care and/or don'5 Stars
"Head on straight, heart on straight."
I know this has nothing to do with this book (for those reading in the future who don't care and/or don't know about my personal sentiments and past year-long 2023 reading slump), but I had only one non-smut 5-star read in 2023 (and I only had one of those for perspective), so the fact that I loved this book so early in the year is VERY exciting for me.
That said...
I love books about family drama and the effects of generational habits (some might say "trauma" but I would argue that that's just LIFE), and this book delivered on that front in so many ways. The manner in which this book presented the nuances of parental expectations, familial canons, and relational compromises was so amazing. I just loved it.
And that can all be attributed to the fantastic level of showing versus telling. Just some outstanding storytelling here, folks, that's all I can say. Some character-driven awesomeness all around.
If the blurb interests you, jump on it.
That's all I got.
Will definitely be monitoring this author moving forward....more
The whole time I was reading this, I kept thinking to myself, "Wow, this author really understands grief." And after seeing the author's notes 4 Stars
The whole time I was reading this, I kept thinking to myself, "Wow, this author really understands grief." And after seeing the author's notes at the end, yes. Yes, she does.
That said, I read this in one sitting and was very invested in the story. I figured out the "secrets" way before the were revealed. But that's fine. I had a few quibbles with the ending (thus this not being a five star for me), but overall I really thought this was a great read.
I will definitely read more from this author. ...more
I liked this well enough, but none of the characters felt...real. Especially the aunt and the sister. They seemed to only exist (both in the 2.5 Stars
I liked this well enough, but none of the characters felt...real. Especially the aunt and the sister. They seemed to only exist (both in the story and for the main character) when she needed to take them off the shelf and vent.
I also won't remember any of their names or the majority of this story by next week. Or perhaps even tomorrow.
Still, it was cute...a decent enough way to pass an afternoon....more
I'm short on both time and motivation, so this will be brief...
I really enjoyed this story and how all the characters were so layered. In true 4 Stars
I'm short on both time and motivation, so this will be brief...
I really enjoyed this story and how all the characters were so layered. In true Elin fashion, no one is all good…or all bad. They are just humans trying to get through life the best they can.
I really enjoyed the Nantucket world (as always) and the mini hotel community world that lived within it. And I really liked the ending. No loose ends and very cute....more
This is my 6th Elin Hilderbrand book and she is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine (like4.5 Stars
”’Everyone is human…Every single one of us.’”
This is my 6th Elin Hilderbrand book and she is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine (like many, I'm sure). Her ability to write morally gray characters and/or morally decent characters who make "immoral" decisions - human decisions - is something I really appreciate.
I also really love her writing style and the setting of Nantucket.
I was very invested in all the characters here. I only wish the ending had some closure....more
Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️
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