KayTo

I'm not really a memoir gal, and I usually steer away from first-person nonfiction, but despite all odds*... I really enjoyed this. The writing was so readable (even if it took me more than a week to read the book), and the tone was immensely Midwestern. He kept saying he isn't educated about music history, but man, the connections he draws throughout beg to differ.

It also explains the voice of Bloodshot, which I literally never realized was his goddamn voice. The random stories shared were all top notch. And where he could have leaned into the truly awful (a few artists had really bad shit; some staffers weren't the least lascivious or most honest people around; the double-demise of the original label), his attitude of, "Welp, you just keep going" was heartwarming instead of tell-all. (He'd probably hate being called "heartwarming".)

Overall, such a fantastic (as in, great, but also as in, how the hell did they pull it off for so long, especially since there had been such deep, hidden issues for so long?!) story or time capsule of a quietly but immensely important label and its artists.

*Okay, full disclosure - some odds were on the "she'll enjoy it" side -- I worked for Bloodshot as an intern, then as the hourly person paid to get their back catalog uploaded to the swath of streaming services. But I never got to know Rob because he was doing it all from the only single-person office room [conveniently across the hall from the single shared bathroom], and my impression of him was shy, smart, sarcastic, and way more interested in literally any other aspect of the business than the metadata and file conversions required by each digital library.

Based on the few direct references to streaming, yup, I wasn't wrong.

A fine collection - always some hit or miss pieces for me. This was no exception to that, but I expect that going in. No standouts for me this time (though "Presenting" was a joy to read!).

Fully liked this one again (no weird issues with one of the mains). I can't say I enjoyed the use of "sweatheart" (whyyyyyy use a pet name thing???), but otherwise, solid.

I checked this out from the library simply because it was available and I'd seen it so hyped. Turns out I really really loved the writing. Yeah, a bit ridiculous, and yes, maybe some people who have had suicidal ideations would think this is a blase take, but... I thought it was pretty great. All it took was less than a week in a different place to allow multiple characters to come to terms with aspects of themselves that they'd been afraid to confront. I love that simplicity - and truly, the wit was just so great.

Because I'm human, I'm comparing this to Lovelight Farms, and I shouldn't be... but since I am, it's just shy of being as lovely of a read for me. I think it was Evie's influencer gig, and Beckett's "honey" (jarring, everytime). But if I hadn't read the first book, this would have almost certainly been a solid 5 stars!

Super accessible writing - not even trying to be "period". And a bunch of "suspend your knowledge of prior plot points here, please". Oh well. It was fine, fun enough, but not great. Won't read more from her.

Aww, not as much fun with the fonts, but the love of language s still there. Fake hating? Amazing. Just wish the very last chapter didn't have an unnecessary addition to the HEA - but I don't remember if the other two couples did, and that wasn't discussed, so yay?

[Just my eternal gripe about the damn 1+1=3]

I haven't read other reviews, though I am guessing some negative ones take umbrage with the depiction of multiple personalities as something chosen and controlled... But setting aside that, I loved this just like every other Oyeyemi book. She suspends reality while writing in a way that is just laced with the humor and irritation of reality, and truly, her brain is just so beautiful. I will always preorder her books.

I kept thinking, "how the heck is he going to stick this landing?" And he DID.

Loved the epic meandering storytelling (not sure how Landry put it exactly). Loved all the allusions to other things (MZD's other works, but also art and literature and mythology). Loved how everyone had a very specific death, and yeah, to encounter all those by the end of the book, it's like, okay, death is unique but also mundane.

Only one death was contradicted (that I noticed, because it happened within the same 2-page spread, which made me think, shit, was that intentional to show she was an unreliable narrator after all?). Only one big issue - Kalin never having a happy ending outside of his family. That's sad to me.

Otherwise, I'm so glad I took my time (but also so glad to be back to book monogamy!!).

Awww, this was such a great, mostly wholesome read. No depression, but a manipulatively abusive relationship (more palatable? Whatever that says about me...). Same humor as all Dade books, and all the characters were perfect.

Oh my god, what a fantastic impulse buy! So great - funny, a nod to Christmas absurdities, and a great example of sticking up for yourself in the face of family obligation/guilt.

Enjoyable - same puzzle-y goodness, which is my thing. The level of irrationality in these characters, though, was a LOT to handle.

Twisty and fun, just like the other Hawthorne books. Yay for the “what next” from others' perspectives!

Just not my thing. Two extremely codependent people and a ton of smirking. (I started counting...)

This is what we need - some massive fortune to get put into the hands of someone who has always survived on far less and been far more kind.

Alas, I don't think any of our wealth holders of the world would ever not want to know their assets would potentially be controlled in different ways after death. But a fun ending to the trilogy anyway.

I loved the overall feeling of a love letter to indie bookstores and romance as a genre.

On that note - I feel like she had the bigger character development than he did - which might have just been in the nature of their starting points, but still felt a little unbalanced.

Also, I actually really was irritated by the inaccurate cover design... (petty of me, I know).

But I loved the icebreaker question of the romance anti-kink - and only saw mine come up once (that I can remember - I try to block it out because it pulls me out of the story).

What a DARK book this was for like, 70%! The wit was still there, but man, this was dealing with some really seriously terrible things. (Honestly, refreshing for a romance!)

And then women's health for the win!

I'm not into the alpha thing, but hey, this one worked for me because she wasn't the stereotypical sub. And I really do love all the brainy jokes.

Woo, another great installment - again, twisty and dark and surprising, and worth the hype! A fantastic escape read.

Alright, you don't need to tell me there's a Scottish accent when you use the word “ken”. ;-) (I loved that the main character faeries were Scottish!)

What a glorious and tragic story - if only we had faeries around to save us stupid mannies from ourselves and what we've wrought on the world. Alas... I look forward to the next installment being republished!

I don't know what I expected, but this was pretty much what it sounds like - a series of ghost stories and the historical facts around them. I learned a number of things (apparently Iowa public schools left out that Lincoln had a whole assassination plot that involved other people getting tried for his murder, and Joan Rivers' story was WILD but also perfect for her). It wasn't always the best editing (sigh), so that's always tricky for me to set aside.

I've had this on my to-read list for eons, and finally remembered to look for it in the library. A delightful read - twisty and dark. I love that the house is a character on its own, too. Absolutely worth the hype (rare that I think that!); looking forward to finishing the series.

Went out of my normal subgenre to try the Western thing (thinking of you, grandpa!). While I enjoyed it, I honestly don't think I will pick up more – and that's mostly just me not liking the town of Meadowlark. (Too many not-great associations with my own small town history, I guess.)

I also had a bit of a hard time getting into Luke's sexytimes personality. I enjoyed him outside of that context, though - and Emmy was pretty great, too.

Another fun installment, even if it was focused on a not-fun topic (PTSD). Honestly, one of the best parts about these is that justice is always served (eventually, on the longer-timeline plot threads). But I also love the characters, and so far, the romantic tension seems to be a slower burn than Steele and Glass...

A fun standalone (with a nod to the Gallagher Girls). I enjoyed Maddie a lot - how she'd lean into the girly girl expectations and be a total badass otherwise.

Logan was a brat, though - as if she had decided to leave on her own? That whole thread was just irritating to me - and big red flag for Maddie. No need to punish her for something that was out of her control (even if his 10 year old emotions didn't know how to handle that).

For a dark academia book, it doesn't get much darker than a school in purgatory. Complex characters and really great world building. Looking forward to book 2.