Emma Goto

A memoir about actress Jeanette McCurdy and the abuse she suffered by her mother - it's not a happy, fun read but definitely well written and interesting!

This novel is in the same universe as Leckie's other books, but I've honestly completely forgotten what they are about and I still enjoyed this one. The cool (or maybe a bit gross? idk) plot point of this book is that there's this alien race where to reach adulthood you have to merge with another so you end up with one consciousness across 2 bodies. Then there's some politicy stuff and some action so overall was a pretty fun read.

DNF at 25% - I was a big fan of Martha Wells' sci-fi so I was keen to give this fantasy book a go, but I found the plot to be quite confusing and it wasn't really hooking me :(

Had low expectations for this one considering the author's recent novellas were pretty bad. But this one was alright! It was a bit tropey at times but decentish plotline for a romance novel.

A short sci-fi novella. What made it interesting was it was from two POVs, a guy with a lot of technological advancements, plus a girl who has no knowledge of technology and so thought the dude was a sorcerer. Unfortunately it felt quite short!!

I'm liking this trend of feminist retelling of Greek myths, gimme more please!

A very tragic but real ww2 story. I'll admit it took me 3 months to get around to finishing it though.

I thought this book started off quite strong with an alternative history plot line, where a meteorite hitting earth and the threat of an extinction event kickstarts the space program in the 1950s.

However I felt it went a little downhill a bit from there as we got stuck into the plot line of the discrimination women faced in the 1960s in the workplace (and their lack of place within it as equals). Which yes, is real and happened and it sucks but I guess it didn't feel quite uplifting to read at times..

Nonetheless an interesting book though.

Some of this was really beautifully written (and funny at times) but then oh boy, the main female characters are SO sexualised. And they just read like a male fantasy, not like a real human beings.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. It's a book about two people who have broken up due to a huge lack of communication and misunderstandings (which is actually very realistic?) but makes it frustrating to read. There's a side plot with the friendship which I actually enjoy a bit more. Didn't want to give it a 3 because it has more depth than your average romance novel, but more of a 3.5 rounded up.

This one's been on my list for a good couple of years now, and I finally got around to reading it. Basically it tries to dispel some of the myths around the Columbine school shooting. The shooters weren't loners - they had friends, went to prom, and they weren't the trench coat-wearing, loner goths that the media initially painted them to be.

I'm a fan of true crime and I'm not sure if this technically falls into this category, but this one felt really heavy to read. Maybe because it spends a lot more time with the survivors and victims of the shooting? Or maybe because it's a more recent event that I was already aware of, the book felt a little bit less interesting to read.

A new book by Alistair Reynolds, yay! I quite like some of his sci-fi books but I found this one to be a little bit boring in comparison. I think because it lacks some of the epic or space opera-ness as it's more of a self-contained story? But nevertheless it touches on some interesting concepts as the main character finds himself reliving events across different eras.

Somehow Tchaikovsky continues to get better and better with these books. But it's impossible to give a plot summary without major spoilers (honestly I feel like it's better to go in blind with all the books in this series).

A satisfying follow-up to Six of Crows! I came back to this one after I finished watching Shadow and Bone season 2 - I found that I enjoyed the bits with the Crows characters way more than I enjoyed the Alina plot-line so that enticed me to pick this one up.

Another epic fantasy masterpiece!! A lot of fun to read with the women-centric plot focusing on warriors, a dragon rider and a queen.

This is a prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree, and I had completely forgotten what happens in it, but still found this book easy to follow nonetheless. I probably should have refreshed my memory and it might have made the plot line a bit more impactful.

I struggled with whether to give this one a 3 stars or a 4 stars. It's not bad - but it felt very long, and my small brain got lost in the plot in amongst all the different characters introduced.

When I saw there was a new Brandon Sanderson book I had to read it! The quirky tone at the beginning was offputting, but it either got toned down or I got used to it, after which it became a fairly pleasant (if straightforward) read.

A woman living in 1950s America who wants to be a scientist and not a housewife, and also ends up starring in a TV cooking show. On one hand there's misogyny and sexual assault but also some positive, uplifting female empowerment. I can't quite put my finger on why but the female empowerment bit doesn't feel very realistic.. like we are supposed to read this as a book set in the 1950s but something feels off, as though the way it's written is a bit too fantastical and too good to be true. Which also makes the tonal shifts with the sexual assault parts a bit weird as well.

I still found it entertaining though!

Gave this one a read because I saw it had a movie trailer and I quite like the way TJR writes her characters. But is this one of her older books or something because this is NOT IT. The plot centres around the main character realising her dead husband is alive 3 years later, and her having sex with him while keeping her current fiancé on the back burner. And then he's like totally cool with it, she gets back with the fiancé and has a happy ending?? This could have worked if she didn't get either guy in the end, I think I just hated how she basically cheated on her fiancé but there was absolutely no remorse or consequences for it.

I'm an Alistair Reynolds fan but I had some issues with this one. Without any spoilers, it's a bit of a mashup between sci-fi space travel and an alternate history 1950s Paris. The overall concept was excellent, the Paris bit was good, but the space part not so much. Also there was an attempted romance which didn't feel very convincing.

A book about an American Indian returning to India to report on rural India's flawed justice system. Quite a depressing read as it covers the conflicts between Muslims and Hindus in India and violence against women. It does end on a happier note which almost feels a bit out of place with the rest of the book.

I read this and was bad as the reviews made it out to be.

A story about a farming colony that receives a spaceship every 15 years that comes and picks up their produce. Due to the effects of space travel, those on the ship don't see that much time pass in comparison, so each time they return to the planet the people there have aged significantly, which I thought was a pretty neat plot point. Overall it has quite a bittersweet tone but I really enjoyed it! Could be my new favourite sci-fi book.

Honestly I was hating on this book - it gave me Christian Grey, Edward Cullen bordering-on-abuse vibes but then it redeemed itself by the girl leaving the guy!! Yes, thank you!!

In saying that though, it still started off pretty cliche, with the girl getting a lot of help in running her flower shop for free so I can't say it was good enough for a 4 stars.

This book outlines “attachment theory” - how people express themselves in relationships falls into roughly three buckets:

* Secure: doesn't have any issues expressing love
* Anxious: is more of the “clingy” type
* Avoidant: is cold, tends to withdraw or easily break things off

Basically if you're a secure type, you're all good but if you're an insecure type (anxious or avoidant), and your partner is also an insecure type, you're probably going to experience some relationship issues. Actually the book goes one step further and basically says “if you're both insecure types you're probably never going to be as happy as you would be if you dated a secure person, but whatever”. A bit of a spicy take but could be true though.

Some of the criticism I saw previously when reading reviews for this book is that it's pro-anxious and anti-avoidant. While I did feel that vibe a bit (the author definitely seemed a tad more sympathetic to anxious types) as a self-diagnosed avoidant I didn't really feel personally attacked or anything. If anything I could agree with a lot of the things the author pointed out (although reading about it is one thing, actually putting it into practice is a hell of a lot harder...).