marilyn

I don't think I've ever read a book that delivers blow after blow with the same speed and unapologetic manner that “The Lioness” does. The outcomes weren't terribly surprising, as the book blurb gives the reader a pretty good idea of what's in store — but despite that I still found myself hooked on the action. The reveal at the end was interesting and makes the book worthy of a future re-read.

Bohjalian clearly did his homework for this novel, which was appreciated, but I found myself occasionally wishing I had also done that homework. I think this is a five-star read for people who have a better understanding of the politics and pop culture of the time than I do.

If I never hear “dear girl” “dead in his bed” “tissue for your issue” or “A-S-S out of you and me” again it will be too soon.

Molly is clearly neurodivergent. No one in this story seems to have ever met or heard of anyone like this despite being set in the present. No one can possibly understand why Molly might talk and behave the way she does.

Yet, I almost get why - because her character is extremely inconsistent. Molly hates cheaters? Better have her pawn a stolen ring for cash. Molly doesn't understand facial expressions? Better have her do complex facial analysis when it's convenient.

Isn't it so quirky that Molly loves Olive Garden? Isn't it so cute that she just LOVES her job despite everyone treating her like an idiot?

I think the character I despised the most might actually be Gran, because she clearly set Molly up to be ridiculed by only speaking on turns of phrase.

And what was the point of the assisted suicide twist?

Rarely do I actively dislike a book. Did I read the same thing as everyone else?

This book was odd. I think that the author wanted to just write a character study and kind of added in the bizarre happenings as an afterthought to give the characters something to react to and keep the reader interested.

I think of the book in 3 parts.

Part 1: Vocab test
Part 2: interesting, dialogue and events are magnetic, as promised
Part 3: I hate everyone/WTF?

Let it be known that all of these characters pissed me off with pretty much every action they made.

Did I like it? No? Did I dislike it? No?

That said, it shouldn't have been approved to be published with that ending.

This is a book that I absolutely would have to read again to fully grasp the interconnectedness of all of the narrators and characters. I highly recommend taking notes on essentially everyone mentioned, even in passing. I did not do this and so I finish this book slightly befuddled.

Starting about halfway through, I continuously asked myself if I have to be connecting some secret dots to be enjoying the book as a whole.

I probably missed some subtle linkages and messages that others are clever enough to pick up on, which is why I like this book so much. It's certainly a challenge — and in a market of very linear and predictable plot lines, it stands out. I appreciate that the author trusts my intellect...although that trust may be misplaced.

All of the chapters are so different. Do I understand how and why they fit together? Kind of? Sometimes? But even if I don't, it's all still pretty good.

I feel like I could have listened to the first and last hour of this book and still heard the same story.

This book wasn't quite what I expected, probably because I haven't read Hilderbrand before and didn't know her style. I thought that it would be more of a mystery/haunted house theme based on the description, but the plot with the ghost is really more of an afterthought.

Despite not being what I thought, I really enjoyed it. This book is quick, fun, and light. A good summer read. It's very much a quirky contemporary fiction novel.

Significantly better than the first one

Fantastic memoir. Highly recommend the audiobook. Listening to Noah's voice as he tells his story is the only way. It was funny, educational, touching, and a little gruesome.

This book is like beauty & the beast meets the hunger games meets the triwizard tournament meets twilight.

The first half is kind of eye-roll inducing. Everything seems a little too ridiculous. It comes together pretty well in the second half though.

This book is a devastating reminder of the fragility and recency of reproductive rights. Not to mention that illegal hysterectomies are still happening.

I was nervous to pick up this book. Could I recover from the impending education of more tragic history during a time of sweeping reproductive injustice? Thankfully, this book holds your hand through the tough issues. It's impactful but it wasn't emotionally hard to read. The main character is pragmatic and a champion of her patients. She's the type of character that helps restore your faith in good humans.

My only critique of this novel is that I didn't think the framing of “letter to daughter” really added much to the story.

Heartbreaking, demanding, distracting. A little too real.

Probably more like 3.5 stars. I enjoyed this story but it wasn't the showstopper for me in the way that it was for others. I wasn't really interested in any of the characters except for maybe Karen. I was impressed in all of the work done to develop this fictional band, it's very believable. The documentary style fell a little short without there being actual music to accompany.

I really wanted to like this book more. I think it's important subject matter. I struggled with the contrast of the author not wanting to be judged, and then spending many of the pages very intricately judging her clients. Most of all, I felt like a lot of context was missing and I would have been interested in more reflection on how she felt in some situations. I didn't understand why she did or didn't do certain things, and I think that hindered my ability to really connect with her story. It might not be my business, but I needed more for it to work as a reader. I think it would have worked better as a collection of short stories.

Charlie is highly chaotic

I cried

Kind of a slow build. I liked the parts describing the young siblings together the best. Voice acting was good.

Boring book. Could skip 80% and still get the same story.

At first I wasn't so sure about reading a book about a pandemic while in one but glad I did. It was nice that there were plenty of happy moments which made the tough parts more bearable. My biggest issue was that it was somewhat frequently unclear who was speaking.

I thought this book was going to have a little more complexity after the events in the first half but Americas flip flopping is relentless. She can't seem to make a decision about literally anything. It's insanity. And then when she does decide how she feels about something, she ALWAYS goes back on it? Jfc.

If you're not going to serve plot, at least give me some rich palace descriptions. Rarely do I ask for more adjectives but I'm literally begging for any descriptive language at all.

Also, having two teenage girls host the first ever diplomatic reception between your country and another?

Writing isn't great but the plot is fun. Hunger Games meets The Bachelor.

This is a beautiful book. It reads like a fairytale, especially in the first half. All of the sentences add value and the pacing is quick. The story doesn't linger where it doesn't need to.

When I opened it and found an extensive family tree, I almost didn't bother. Sometimes it's just too much to have so many characters, but I think this book does it well. I did keep a bookmark on the tree so I probably wouldn't recommend reading an ebook or audio version of this unless you have a great memory.

I really enjoyed this book. Going in, I didn't think I'd care much about the husbands but the story had some twists that did pull it together. I didn't care so much for the bits about Monique's life but appreciated the way it wrapped up at the end. The audiobook performances were very good and masked some of the corny writing. I'm not sure I would have liked it as much if I had been reading the physical book. I primarily listened to this book whilst doing chores on the weekends and it worked well to keep me motivated to clean!

[Spoilers: I had kind of hoped that Evelyn would eventually change herself back to who she was born as (in name and appearance) but it was also fitting that she didn't - though I might have liked if the story touched on that more. From the beginning, I had predicted the ending would tie in to Monique's prior article so that didn't come as a surprise to me, but there were enough other twists that it wasn't a let down that I had identified part of the end. I'm guessing that the author knew people would make that association anyway. Frankly I'm surprised that Monique didn't also guess it before the very end.]

I liked the plot of this book, and that it was somewhat of a nontraditional love story. The descriptions and dialogue were sometimes awkward, and it felt like all of the characters had the same voice.

I enjoyed this book overall but felt it was a little repetitive and some of the dialogue was clunky/unbelievable. Loved having recipes included at the end though!

This book picks up more toward the end but is extremely put-downable. Characters behaved in unrealistic ways for the sake of pushing an agenda which became distracting. It's well-meaning but probably better to read something else if you're trying to understand race issues.