Kelly
A cute, sapphic historical romance. I appreciated all the history and research woven in, you can tell the author really wanted to the Chinese American and the LGBTQ+ experiences in the 50's and 60's justice. Lily's journey of self awareness and acceptance was inspiring and well done. But sometimes the plot would veer off course, and we get stuck with filler chapters of relative's backstories. There were also a lot of minor plot points that don't get resolved.
Ken Liu is an incredible story teller, he has a way with words, wit, and feelings. He's able to build these creative worlds with developed characters and flourishes of emotion and hope in short stories. (Which speaks strongly to his skills as an author, especially considering some popular books of 600+ pages that are mostly filler.)
This collection covers various topics and spans different genres. There's a good mix of space, sci-fi, fantasy, magical realism, and speculative fiction. The Paper Menagerie was my favorite and struck me to the core. As a first generation kid growing up in a community where barely anyone looked like me I related to the kid so much. But now as an adult, I can see how the sons actions of self preservation impacted his mother and his future self. I had to put the book down and call my mom!
I also enjoyed Mono no Aware, Simulacrum, and Good Hunting.
This book starts off strong, dropping us right into the middle of high stakes political negotiations between the countries Bình Hải and Ephteria. There's political court drama, the beginning threats of colonialism, and a secret sapphic romance unfolding in the span of 100ish pages. It's a lot to cover and unfortunately this book needed more pages to do it justice.
The ending felt rushed and choppy compared to the first half of the book. The author builds this incredible world with tumultuous relationships only for it to sizzle out. Personally, I felt icked out that Giang and Thanh's sisterly relationship turns romantic. I ship them - but maybe don't have them call each other big and little sis as a term of endearment?
The audio narrator nailed the WASP voices, definitely recommend the audio book if you decide to pick this book up. This book is more about a tight-knit family who just happens to be part of the 1% and the personal struggles they go through. I enjoyed the witty banther amongst the Stockton family and getting to see a slice of life of an old money family in Brooklyn. It was a fun, lighthearted read for the most part.
You can't have a story about millionaires without bringing up class and privilege. While I wasn't expecting this book to take a stance on these topics, I felt slightly unsatisifed at the end. The author showed character growth by having them come to terms with their respective family and money problems. It was a fitting end for the book but I was wanting more reflection and depth from the characters.
Q-Anon fan-fic meets stalker “romance”. This book is extremely problematic, absurd, and lacks any character development. There's also zero romance - it's sexual assualt that turns into a forced “relationship” and eventually the stalked gives in to her dark desires and starts a relationship with her stalker. Yet it had sorching hot scenes and good buildup of sexual tension in a dark romance type of way.
I hated Zade's entire exsistence, he's a terrible character and even more horrendously written. What I mean by that is he has zero personality, no backstory, and has contradictary motivations. Zade's entire purpose is rescuing the women and children that are trafficked by the Society. His desire to rescue and protect these victims is so high that he created an entire organization for this purpose. When it comes to Addie he becomes the same kind of sexual predator that he routinely murders - forces her to do things against her will, calls her baby girl, and inflicts fear into her. It's so cringy and uncomfortable.
A sweeping and ambitious story of power and corruption in India that failed to impress. There was a lot of potential, the plot was exciting and the multiple POVs helped build up the mystery around the Wadia family. I could see this easily transformed into a TV show.
Unfortunately the execution was rough, it was repeatitive and filled with backstories for minor characters. The book is split into 5 different parts with each part focusing on different characters. In parts 1 - 3 we're introduced to our main characters Ajay, Neda, and Sunny and cover the same pivotal events from their perspective. Each perspective revealed more about the criminal Wadia empire, but covering the same events multiple times felt very repeatitive. Before we reach the conculsion to the events set in motion in the first half of the book, we're introduced to minor characters and get their entire backstory. Backstory is not a replacement for character development. Honestly I could have skipped half the book and been fine.
I should have DNF'd this but my desire to complete a book over 500 pages was too strong.
I'm generally a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's books, but this noir pulp fictiontook some effort for me to get through. I had a hard time staying interested, there wasn't much of a hook to pull the story forward. The writing is solid and the backdrop of political unrest creates tension in most interatctions. I kept hoping for something to draw me into the story and it does...just at the end.
The characters really carried the book, especially Maite. At first I didn't like her because she was vapid and had odd quirks. But as I learned more about her and understood her insecurities, she started to make the events much more interesting.
I'm still a fan of SMG, but I'll probably stick with her fantasy books.
Have you ever finished a book and been like “that's it?” That's how I felt after finishing this book, it was lackluster and didn't work for me. I was waiting for the exciting plot twist in this murder mystery and sadly that never happened.
This novel is told from multiple POVs and we gradually find out the dark secrets that link the characters together. Hearing how these dark secrets affected each person's life was the most interesting part of the book. But by the time the secret reveals came to light everything felt repeatitive and too much of stretch from reality for me to enjoy.
If you're wanting an age-gap romance with lots of spicy smutty scenes then you've found the book you're looking for.
I picked this up out of curiousity, a steamy romance with a doctor? Yes please. I knew there was an age gap, but good grief a 19 year old girl with a 40-something year old man. I didn't have high expectations for the plot line (I'm here for the spicy smut) but the ending was extremely cringe.
Spice - 5 stars
Plot - 1 star
Great story, I enjoyed seeing the characters evolve and women outsmart their situations. Wanda was my favorite heroine. My biggest critique is while the women were single they were protrayed as intelligent and determined to survive, yet at the end Irina and Miryem stayed married with their captors. I know this is a fairy tale re-telling and the men changed for the better, but the romance felt so shallow.
I had a good time listening to the audio book, but it was challenging recognizing when POVs changed. The narrator sublty changes her voice between the female characters so it's really easy to miss if you aren't fully paying attention.
“What if it's enough to just be us.”
Mosscap and Dex's adventures continue as they travel throughout Pangea and meet other towns & villages. Along the way they discover more about themselves, what makes them...them, and what it means to be connected. This idea of an utopian society powered by mutually benefical connections runs deep in this book (trees are crown-shy, concept of pebs, etc.) and I'd love to be part of this world.
If you're looking for a literary dystopian or commentary on the worker-drone routine then look no further! But if you're looking for an adventurous, zombie end of the world story, look elsewhere.
The book is told in different timelines, and I enjoyed the past/lead up to the End way more than the present day plot line.
The author did a really fantastic job showing how being stuck in routines, going on auto-pilot is a modern epidemic. Enter our main character, Candence. Even with the world ending and everyone turning fevered, she faithfully continues to go into the office until her contract expires. Very ironic considering the Shen fever turns people into zombies stuck on an infinite loop of routine.
The premise drew me in, it's a chilling dystopia where mothers are held to impossible standards and judged for everything they do. There's so much tension, despair, and gaslighting that it makes you question your own perceptions of what being a good mother means. As much as that reeled me in, the book felt repeatitive and drawn out. There were also elements of world building that seemed unfinished. It was a good book, but had potential to better.
I enjoyed seeing Kaikeyi as a woman who chooses power over freedom. She defies convention when it comes to the gods because they've never helped her. She's also hypocritical, stubborn, and manipulative. She's great as the anti-hero. But all the other characters felt so one dimensional, which was disappointing because we know they're also conflicted.
The book also felt longer than it actually was and I was hoping for more action to help break up the long sequences of domestic drama.
A cautionary tale of what happens when believing in the power of fairy tales becomes all consuming.
It's hard to describe this book, other than be prepared for a very sumputious, atmospheric, and dark experience. There's a lot of flowery language and lush scenes that are meant to invoke your senses. It portrays reality in a magical breathtaking way, but slowly the cracks of something obsessive and sinister appears.
A word of caution - one of the characters is a toxic, possessive, and dangerous person. The power this person holds over other is romanticized to fit the story. So just be warned if that triggers you.
This is one of the cases where my personal tastes didn't align with the book. It was a quick read, I enjoyed the writing, and I thought the ending was really good.
As much as I tried to like Chloe & Red I just didn't enjoy their banter - I'm not a sarcastic person so that could have been why. The insta-love chemisty didn't work for me, which is fine because I prefer slow-burn romances anyway.
The smut scenes were A+, definitely steamy. But as a reader, I didn't enjoy that shortly after each scene there'd be some kind of huge conflict. If that were to happen to me in real life I'd feel so disrespected and end things.
I don't normally read horror yet I had an entertianing time reading, certain parts flew by because I had to know what happened next. I love me some slow burn, forbidden romance and even better when it's not meant to be .
There wasn't anything that stood out to me, the plot was predictable and the ending felt flat compared to all the build up. It was still an easy, solid read.
Silly me for thinking this was the final book in the series, of course it'd be a triology!
I've noticed a pattern with Leigh Bardugo's books, the beginning is slow and hard to get into. But once the action starts I can't stop reading until the end. Hell Bent was no different, the time jumps at the start felt like we were meandering and rehashing parts of Alex's life outside of Yale. Once we stayed in present day it was a lot easier to get engrossed in the story. The puzzle within the puzzle plot line was clever, it added extra paranormal elements to the book. I really loved how Mercy & Alex's friendship was portrayed in this book and can't wait to see how it plays out in the next book.
I had a good time with this book, but was disappointed with the uneven pacing. It made the book feel way too long. I found myself often re-reading as settings or timelines abruptly changed. And Darlington's demon cock....why?
Jack can call me stumps anytime <3
A very light hearted, funny, upbeat rom-com. I had a lot of fun listening to the audio book and really enjoyed the dynamic between Jack and Hannah. I liked how the author used a lot of established romance tropes (fake dating, 1 bed, forced proximity, etc.) but added wholesome twists to keep it a good time.
I wasn't a fan of the final conflict, felt underdeveloped and out of left field.
Bridgerton meets Howl's Moving Castle <3
I loved every moment of this book. I'm a huge fan of fake-dating trope and this did not disappoint. The whimsical magic really enhanced the romantic moments It was wholesome, cute, and made me feel all warm inside. The main characters were witty and didn't hesitate to call things as they see it. I adored seeing their feelings for each other grow as the book progressed.
The Faerie world is introduced at the end of the book and it left a lot of questions. Origin stories are hinted at but never explained in depth. I'm hoping the sequel will answer these questions, so I'm not too concerned right now.
Also bonus points for including non-gorgeous Fae
I loved every moment of this book, the prose was really delightful and magical. The characters, nature, and the world of Pangea jumped off the page. Sibling Dex's struggles to find understanding and purpose was captured in such a relatable way. Sometimes you just have to do things on your own terms. The dynamic between Dex and Mosscap was funny yet insightful, I really enjoyed their conversations about what it means to be a human.
The book is best enjoyed slowly like a cup of tea, give yourself some time to savor the moment.