Zell

Wow, this was a fantastic book. Absolutely captivating, with realistic characters and complex topics addressed in a fantastic and representative way. I loved Monique, I loved Evelyn. Beautiful book about sexuality, fame, acceptance, and love.

These were good poems, and some of them resonated with me. Others didn't. I would love more historical and contextual information. But this was solid.

This collection was absolutely amazing. Usually in a short story collection some will resonate with me and others won't, but I thought every story in the collection, especially the titular novella, was truly remarkable. The messages, characters, and scenarios were poignant and brutally honest. I loved this.

Wow, this was a fantastic thriller. So well written, with such fantastic three dimensional characters. I loved the plot twists and was absolutely drawn in to the story. Interesting plot and premise, amazingly well executed.

This book felt fairly predictable. It was a solid thriller, and I thought the characters were interesting, but it lacked twists for me, and I didn't feel any build up of suspense because I felt like I knew what was going to happen. Interesting premise, and solid but not “wow”-ing execution.

This was a fun, easy book to read. The writing was meandering, whimsical, and charming, but a little cringey in some places. Some good character development in places, but in other ways none at all. Not super memorable but totally readable.

An absolutely fantastic psychological thriller, so twisty and turny that I was genuinely shocked at the end. This was incredibly well written and so compelling, I loved the characters and how three dimensional they were.

I liked the premise of the book and the stories within it, but I felt like it was a meandering road with no real destination. There wasn't a well defined plot, and it read more like a thought experiment about a possible reality than a novel.

Such a fantastic immersive story. I loved how self-referential and real-world referential this book is, and found the writing style, characters, and world building masterful and enthralling. I read the whole thing in one day, barely putting it down, and the second one is on hold at my local library already. I loved this book!

I felt like the first part of this story was really strong, but it because less and less believable. I didn't like Hannah's character (and also kept forgetting who the heck Hannah was), although I did like the daughter. I felt like this book got harder and harder to like as I went along. Solid premise but then went off the rails.

I really enjoyed these stories and their commentary on relationships. They were funny, sad, and really intimate. Great portraits of characters, and they felt just the right pace and length. The political commentary worked in felt a little jarring and set it in a specific time period, which pulled me out of an otherwise fascinating series of stories.

This book was so much fun - I found myself laughing out loud and reading quotes from it to my fiance, who also found the deadpan humor and snarky dialogue hilarious. I loved Finlay's character, found Vero to be a perfect sidekick, and generally enjoyed every page!

I liked the concept of the book but felt that as someone who isn't familiar with the music mentioned here, it just didn't speak to me as much as it could have.

Uncomfortable and unsettling stories that are extremely convincing in their weirdness. I really liked these short stories, and would love to read more by this author. A couple of them felt a little TOO short, but for the most part they were extremely effective.

Wow.... I LOVED these stories. They were poignant, hard hitting, and such an interesting snapshot of the immigrant experience. I haven't read any Laotian authors before, but Thammavongsa has convinced me that I need to read more!! Such straight-forward writing and portrayals of (often complicated) relationships.

Risbridger has such a lovely way of inserting her ideas and reassurances into her writing, and it just makes me feel comforted and warm inside. These poems were fantastic and the commentary definitely added something for me. I relate to Risbridger on a deeply personal level, as someone who also lost a lover too young (any time is too young) and her work speaks to me.

I dont often give a cookbook 5 stars but as some who loves New England and wants to move there soon, this cookbook made me even more excited to live there. The recipes were seasonal and regional and the pictures were gorgeous. They seem like recipes that really let the ingredients shine, which I love. The tidbits of New England culture were top tier as well.

I have experience with Whitehead's writing and generally really like it. For some reason this book just didn't live up to the extremely high standard he has set for himself. It felt trivial and meandering, with the potential to address some big issues that just wasn't ever met. I would have liked it to have been longer and had more about the town and its history.

These stories were beautifully written and featured a fascinating and unique cast of characters. All of the narrators were masterfully developed and although some of these stories are only a couple pages long, they were always compelling and thought-provoking. An enthralling portrait of New Orleans.

This book was really an interesting blend for me. Was it a good mystery? Not really. Was it realistic? Also no. But it was so cute and fun and food-focused that even though it was kind of a silly read, I found myself getting through it quickly and enjoying the descriptions and the drama. Quirky and culturally interesting, which is what my rating is weighted on.

I liked the topics in this book - being a child of immigrants, pressure to perform academically, relationships.... but it just didn't wow me. It was a solid book with funny and touching moments, but felt a little robotic and emotionless. I liked the unique format and dialogue style though!

Interesting and innovative recipes, but I was looking for more “soul” and less ingredient substitutions. They seem like they'd be good for people with lots of dietary restrictions, but they're not for me, unfortunately. Pretty pictures though!

This was such a cute, heartwarming book. The stories and characters were diverse, the meetings were really sweet, and I genuinely found myself smiling hugely or “aww”-ing aloud at most of the stories. Nothing bad to say about this collection! And I loved the queer representation.

This book was genuinely awful. The plot was terrible and slow, the characters were one-dimensional and kind of awful, and no one's thoughts or decisions made any sense. I get “experimental” fiction but this was just hard to read, boring, and a true waste of time.

Delicious sounding food and beautiful pictures! The recipes are clear and well-written, and I felt like the pictures really demonstrated what the dishes should like like. Substitution suggestions were great, but I feel like this book assumes you have a strong grasp of Asian flavors already as some things aren't explained super well.