Katie

I enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book, even if the story felt fairly predictable, and too easily and quickly wrapped up at the end.

Well, damn, it's hard to believe this wasn't written during COVID times, because it sure was appropriate in a lot of ways. I loved how much the author loved music, especially live music. Her descriptions of shows were great. Where it fell apart for me were the inconsistencies in the tech and the plot features that made no sense. But, all in all, it was an enjoyable story. The first half was definitely more fun and interesting than the last, where it started to get a little preachy.

I really enjoyed watching how the main character made choices about her life, even if I didn't always like her or agree with her. This is one of those books where I feel compelled to tell everyone an outline of the plot just to hear them gasp.

I didn't dislike any parts of this book, but the story just got a little weird. I guess I'm still not 100% behind magical realism. I understand its use as a metaphor, especially in this book, but it's still just not my thing.

Oooh, this was so good. It was hard to do anything else but read it once I started. Fully of witty banter (the best!) and edge of your seat suspense and worry for the characters, too.

Well, this was a fun read. I was briefly interested in the hunt, so it was neat to read the story from near the beginning all the way to the finish.

I really wanted to like this book. She had me for the first few chapters, but then it just became a slog and I skipped to the end. Everyone is exploited for sure. But I didn't need all the examples from different types of jobs, and would have preferred more analysis. Also, very, very communist, which was great, but seemed to veer into unreality when it came time for solutions.

This was a little clunky/predictable, and the characters weren't all that interesting. If it weren't by Stacey Abrams I probably wouldn't have continued reading.

This was a fun and interesting read. Grange is a good writer, and has lived an interesting life.

This was about so much more than exercise. It was about life and how to live it, and how to think about it. I am a little worried for Alison after reading this, though...

These essays were a bit uneven for me, but when they were good they were very, very good. Contained many truths that I might have thought I knew but definitely needed to hear again.

Even though I don't know what most of the food she describes is, and I probably wouldn't like it in real life, her descriptions made me drool! This is a very moving story of a mother and daughter. I enjoyed her honesty about their relationship.

I feel like anything I could say about this book could never measure up to how good it truly is. It was hard to read in parts, but so important. And I'm heartened by the hopeful stories she shares and by the way Biden seems to really get some of what she's talking about.

Wow. What a book. It was artsy, but not too artsy that you couldn't follow it. Especially moving for me, maybe, because the author and I are the same age and so are our sons, but I think it would be moving for anyone.

We need to start doing things so much differently. Brown points towards many different ways that people are attempting this on a small scale. I really hope those efforts grow. While this overlapped in some ways with For the Love of Men, it also had lots of new and different information, so definitely worth reading both. Also, I want to say the first chapter was fairly gruesome, and I wondered for a bit why she was including all of that, but she had a point to make with the stories she was telling, and she made it well.

Not sure what to say about this one. I didn't love any of the characters, and I always have a hard time reading books where people mess up their lives worse and worse over and over again. On the other hand, the fact that it was set where I live was great, and it was fun to pick out all the places I knew. I sometimes felt the narrator gave the characters thoughts they might not have had, like the way the teen keeps begging for structure from her mom (internally). Maybe I'm wrong about that, though. And the ending felt a little rushed and pat.

There really, really should be ten stars. You think nothing could be better than Graceling? Well, maybe you didn't think about the addition of sentient, telepathic foxes. I can't, can't wait for the next one.

When this book was funny it was very, very funny. But there was too much attempted inspiration for me. I don't know if her previous books were like that and I forgot, or if this one was just trying to be more positive than in the past, but it didn't work for me–just felt forced and cliched.

Wow. I tore through this book because I had no idea what was going to happen! A strong, intelligent, resourceful, amazing narrator was the best thing about the book, but the story was fascinating as well. Just, go read it!

This was a sort of rambling read through Isabelle Allende's random thoughts about women, with a middle section detailing lots of abuse, violence against, and rape of women all over the world. Not sure why this was published, except that she's very famous.

This was hard going in some places, but he ending made it all worth it. I really loved the lessons he learned from Standing Rock.

I really wish I could give this book 10 stars. I was hesitant when I picked it up–yes, this happened to her, but does that also mean she's a good writer? She is an amazing writer. This book is full of so many truths that I often had to stop and reread lines, while inside I was shouting YES.

This was a sad tale of a miserable experience. It's about people who seem traumatized, pushing their bodies beyond the limits, for what seems like little learning or growth.

Wow. The characters in this book were great. The stories were interesting and well written and satisfying–not like some short stories that leave you wondering what just happened at the end. :) I wish there were more.

I guess by the ending there isn't going to be a sequel, but I sure wish there would be, because I wasn't ready to leave the lives of these characters or the events of this story.