This book reads like a movie. Seriously. Let me explain.
The entire book takes place in the span of 24 hours. Senior Rowan and Neil have been rivals foThis book reads like a movie. Seriously. Let me explain.
The entire book takes place in the span of 24 hours. Senior Rowan and Neil have been rivals for 4 years and after Neil got valedictorian, Rowan's only chance of besting him one last time is during Howl: a scavenger hunt type game that is put on for seniors every year on the last day of school. At some point Rowan overhears some other seniors plotting to take both her and Neil out of the game so she decides to team up with him instead and work together and then its every person for themselves at the end. I'm sure I don't need to say what happens next because even my cat can probably tell how predictable this is.
The events take way too long in the book. I think it would work in a movie though. A scavenger hunt type game, an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers trope, ultra nerdy kids, etc. But as a book it's really boring and... vanilla?
I almost dnf-ed at 20% and then again at 50%, but ended up reading till the end anyways. I can't really say I'm glad I did....more
I've had this book on my tbr list forever. I don't know why it's taken me this long to actually read it! I ended up finishing it in just a day!
The booI've had this book on my tbr list forever. I don't know why it's taken me this long to actually read it! I ended up finishing it in just a day!
The book follows Francesca, a teenage girl whose had a strong mother her entire life, one she started resenting in her recent teenage years because her mother didn't feel like she was loving up to her potential, and she felt that Francesca was dimming herself so that she wouldn't outshine her "friends". Francesca also recently transferred to what used to be an all-boys school and still has the toxic masculinity to prove it. Without her "friends" shaping her character she feels lost and alone.
Then, one morning Francesca's mother stops getting out of bed for no apparent reason. And the entire family slowly starts to crumble.
I liked the characters a lot. They were deep, multi-faceted, interesting. I especially liked the different friendships Francesca formed with her classmates. I loved how the author wrote Francesca herself; deeply flawed, moody and insecure. I.e. like a real teenager. And the character development was really there. I think this is probably the best character development of a teenager that I've ever read.
I have to admit I didn't love Will. I thought he was a bit flat. Which is probably why I almost gave this a 3. But I would say the romance is actually a minor part of the story and the real focus is on the family and the friendships....more
I think this book ultimately suffers from missed opportunities and it definitely didn't earn its length (even though it isn't that long to begin with)I think this book ultimately suffers from missed opportunities and it definitely didn't earn its length (even though it isn't that long to begin with). Callum's entire character comes across as wish fulfilment; he's pretty much perfect except for initially being a jerk to the heroine, but even that is explained as him being protective of his brother. Nikki is in extreme denial about all the feelings related to Callum, which of course results in the conflict at the end. It was dragged out unnecessarily long, from grand gestures to more misunderstandings, and by the end I was just glad the book was over.
And for a book that's all about food trucks, there wasn't much food in the book, which is a shame. No sexy cooking scenes, or feeding each other in bed, or anything fun that's food related. Not even enough food descriptions to make me hungry....more
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Alex, Lisa and Connor make a perfect little family, but everything cARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Alex, Lisa and Connor make a perfect little family, but everything changes when Lisa dies in a train crash. At the hospital, Alex is confronted with the fact that Lisa is an organ donor, and her death changes the lives of four people--Molly, Mac, Jamie and Barbara. Even though close contact between donor families and the recipients is discouraged, Alex still tries to form a bond with these four, and there's undeniably something drawing all of them together. Mac dreams of a place he's never seen before, night after night, and Molly suddenly develops a love for the stars. The bond between Alex and Molly seems especially strong; after all, Lisa's heart lives on in Molly. But how much of these feelings are real?
The premise as described on Goodreads is a bit misleading, and I was expecting a book that would be mostly about Alex learning to be a single parent (and to be honest, that's a huge part of why I requested the ARC because I usually enjoy single father stories). But there isn't much focus on that at all. It's not that the book doesn't mention the difficulties Alex faces, it's just that it feels like it takes a backseat to Alex's relationship with the four recipients of Lisa's organs.
I thought there was a lot of telling rather than showing, and the foreshadowing was very heavy-handed. The relationship between Alex and Molly felt uncomfortable, something the characters reflect on as well, but not something I usually go for. It becomes clear pretty fast that Alex is drawn to Molly because she got Lisa's heart, and vice versa, and while I went into this book hoping to see Alex getting a new chance at love, I wasn't expecting it to go like this.
I did like the characters and enjoyed getting to know them, especially Mac, and I was pleased with the way things ended....more
I have no idea how to review this book so I'll just ramble and see if it makes any sense when I run out of words. I have no idea how to review this book so I'll just ramble and see if it makes any sense when I run out of words. ...more
This was pretty much everything I want from a YA novel. And one thing I don't...
The book is about Avery. S(reposting because Goodreads ate the review)
This was pretty much everything I want from a YA novel. And one thing I don't...
The book is about Avery. She lost her mom, her half-sister took her in, but still she's dirt-poor and leads a hard life. Until all of a sudden a billionaire dies and leaves all his wealth to her, overlooking his own daughters and grandsons. The will does stipulate that she must live in the Hawthorne mansion with the Hawthorne family for a year so that she can get the inheritance. Oh and btw, this was an eccentric billionaire who built a mansion full of secret passages and gave his grandsons weekly riddles and had them compete against each other.
Although this is just a contemporary novel, it has a kind of fantasy feel to it. Also kind of an anime feel somehow.
There's 4 grandsons and each has a very specific character type, like the brilliant inventor, the rebel, the thrill-seeker and the straight-laced one. Of course they're all gorgeous. That brings me to the one thing I really don't like: love triangles. Ughhh.... I realize that for this book, it was actually necessary for the plot, which is why I'm not hating the entire book because of it. But still.
Despite the love triangle, you should pick this up for many reasons: 1. It's an unputdownable page-turner. The mystery is written so well, that it keeps pulling you in and at the edge of your seat in exactly the right measure. 2. The clues, the riddles, the mystery. They are so fun to read about, but also to figure out with the characters. 3. The characters are really fun to read. The sibling rivalry is very amusing too. 4. Hawthorne mansion is almost like it's own character. I loved reading about the house.
Although there are some loose ends, the book didn't really end on a cliffhanger (also for those who read it: I think we all saw that one thing coming, right?)
I'm actually a little bit worried about picking up the next one when it comes out, because I doubt it can top this one tbh....more
This was okay. Bit long. Didn't love the female main character. The male main character was just okay not amazing. Was not really funny for me. ProbabThis was okay. Bit long. Didn't love the female main character. The male main character was just okay not amazing. Was not really funny for me. Probably won't read any of the other books in the series. ...more
I have very mixed feelings about this book and it took me a while to sort through them.
Before I start, I want to say that I have really enjo3.5 stars
I have very mixed feelings about this book and it took me a while to sort through them.
Before I start, I want to say that I have really enjoyed both of Helen Hoang's previous books, and I love her focus on mental health. So I went into this book with high expectations.
So starting with the things I liked: I very much liked the premise of a young woman in a stable but boring relationship, whose boyfriend suggests having an open relationship before settling down. Anna is also a musician who currently feels blocked and has taken some time off work. Her family have very high expectations of her and take the tough love approach.
I liked Quan but felt he might just have easily been replaced with Michael. Or many other romance novel male characters. I didn't find his personality to be unique at all. I literally think he's Michael with a different back story (and I personally thought it was less interesting at that).
The things I didn't like (Warning: spoilers ahead) (view spoiler)[ Let's start with Quan this time. Throughout the book you get glimpses of how much Quan loves kids and his internal struggle with the fact that he can't have them bubbles up here and there. I felt this was left as a loose end. The only thing we see is that Anna says she doesn't want to break up with him because of it. We never really get into how Quan feels about it or whether he wants to adopt or doesn't, etc. We don't even really get to read about how he feels about it in detail.
Next is the burnout Anna experiences when being a caretaker for her father. I love that this was one of the main themes of this book. It's extremely important and such a taboo topic, even though it affects so many people around the world, especially women. What I felt though was that the author kept insinuating that the burnout wasn't happening because of the burden of caretaking per se, but because of the fact that her father clearly did not want to continue to live in that way. Perhaps this is my own reading of it, but it felt like an attempt to not turn Anna into a bad person. Like she was trying to excuse the burnout even though it didn't need excusing. Even if her father was happy to continue living as he was and she was still burning out purely from the amount of emotional and physical energy it took, that wouldn't make her a bad person, it would just make her human and I would sympathize even more with her.
I would have also liked it if we got more insights subsequently into how Quan was dealing with being her caretaker afterwards. But that's a minor point.
Lastly, and this is the one that probably annoyed me the most: I thought the way they reconciled was ridiculous and completely immature. I think Anna was a complete a**hole for not breaking off her relationship with Julian. And her affirming the engagement in front of their families and friends was a horrible thing to do. Don't get me wrong, I understand her feelings. I have such a hard time saying no to people and have in the past made many mistakes where I went with the flow and then deeply regretted it for having hurt other people or myself. We're human and we do horrible things. But how do you go from such a horrible thing and think 'I know the solution. I'll show up to my ex-boyfriend the guy's apartment unannounced, strip naked in front of him and show him how to make me orgasm.' (Disclaimer: if you haven't read the book then you're missing context and it'll sound worse than it is) And he's stupid enough to find that to be enough... Just because she agreed to be vulnerable about one aspect of her life in front of you, that makes up for the fact that she refused to publicly tell her family she wasn't marrying her ex-boyfriend and was going to be with you instead?
What happened to having an open conversation about your shortcomings and promising to do better? What happened to acknowledging you have issues and promising you're gonna go see a therapist to work on them? How do both of them just gloss over this and not talk about serious solutions to her underlying problems?
As I said I had really high expectations, so I'm just a bit disappointed. Overall I did enjoy the book and the themes in it, but I felt the execution could have been much better....more
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Everything I enjoyed about Beach Read was definitely present in EmilARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Everything I enjoyed about Beach Read was definitely present in Emily Henry's second book.
Loveable characters? Check. Humor? Check. A cute romance? Check.
When Alex and Poppy met, they didn't really like each other. Carpooling together for a trip back home changed that, and forged a strong friendship between them. They strike a deal: they'll spend the summers together on vacation. But after their trip to Croatia, they haven't spoken to each other in two years. Determined to fix everything that went wrong, Poppy suggests they spend some time together in Palm Springs. She'll plan everything, and it'll be perfect, except for how everything goes wrong.
This is a pretty fast, enjoyable read. I genuinely enjoy Henry's writing style as well as her characters. I really loved the strong friendship between Alex and Poppy; their connection felt palpable, even after two years apart. There are plenty of hilarious situations and sweet moments, and a lot of pining on both sides (also a lot of denial on both sides).
I will say that the buildup to Croatia was huge and Croatia itself was very anticlimactic for me. What happened really didn't warrant two years of silence. I also thought the ending was overly dramatic for the sake of being dramatic, which doesn't take away from it also being cute and sweet but sometimes, less drama is more, and this needed a bit less.
I think I'm also coming to realize that I'm not a huge fan of dual timelines in romances. I didn't hate the past timeline, but I did enjoy the present one more. The structure of the story with the timelines is reminiscent of The Road Trip, but I definitely enjoyed this one a lot more....more
I think this might be a new favorite. Super cute. I loved the characters, both of them. The pacing was good, it gave me warm and fuzzy feelings, lovedI think this might be a new favorite. Super cute. I loved the characters, both of them. The pacing was good, it gave me warm and fuzzy feelings, loved the ending. The only thing that bothered me were a few mistakes that were missed in editing. I'm so upset when that happens to a book I like this much, cause I just want it to be perfect. Also this book made me realize something: the number one thing that will make me like a romance book is *interesting* characters. All the romance books I liked this year had exactly that. Even if the story is predictable, that will make the book for me. On the flip side, even if the story is fascinating, if the characters aren't interesting it will break it for me. So if anyone has any recommendations for romance books with interesting characters, will you pleeeeeease share?
Reading the synopsis I expected something along the lines of My Best Friend's Wedding. Except for that fact that she's secretly in love with her best Reading the synopsis I expected something along the lines of My Best Friend's Wedding. Except for that fact that she's secretly in love with her best friend who's about to get married, they're pretty much nothing alike.
I enjoyed reading the book overall. It was a little reminiscent of Mhairi McFarlane, but I ms. McFarlane brings more insight and writes more interesting characters if I'm really honest.
I was a little disappointed with how some things were handled towards the end of the book, but overall I did enjoy reading it and would generally recommend it. ...more
* The book really dives into the experience of being Black iCWs:(view spoiler)[Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality (hide spoiler)]
* The book really dives into the experience of being Black in the USA, and of being a minority at a predominately white school, and the challenges that come with that. * I loved the idea of the game. The battles were cool to read, and I love that two young women created this huge, important thing from scratch. * It's a very sex positive book as well. Kiera has a boyfriend, and there are open discussions of them having sex without it becoming a whole Thing. * I didn't expect the way this unfolded, but it made for an interesting ending for sure. * Part of why I picked this up is because I'm a developer, and I was hoping the book would do a bit more with programming. Unfortunately, I didn't get that, but I would definitely recommend this book. ...more
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
CW: rape, self-harm, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, coerciveARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
CW: rape, self-harm, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, coercive behaviour
This book was a difficult read, not just because of the trigger warnings (please pay attention to them if you decide to read this book), but because it felt so deeply personal. I knew going in that this book would have an impact on me. I didn't expect to be up until midnight because I couldn't put it down.
Hijab & Red Lipstick follows Sara and her coming of age in the Gulf area. Sara has an Egyptian father and a British mother and a pretty tumultuous childhood. Things her friends at school take for granted are forbidden and sometimes severely punished. And this doesn't get better when her father decides to move them all to the Gulf area. There Sara has to contend with even stricter rules and the constant conflict between her and her father.
The first half of this book felt like I was reading the story of my life very accurately portrayed by someone who wasn't me. Everything from the strict rules, the double standards, the ban on music, the sudden move from Europe to the Gulf--it hit home, and not in a pleasant way. I found myself dwelling on old childhood memories, more bitter than sweet. And that wasn't the hardest part of the book--after I got beyond the stuff I could personally relate to, Sara's story actually becomes even more heart-wrenching.
In my experience, a lot of Muslims living in the West see the Gulf as some kind of Muslim utopia. Surely everything will be better there, in a Muslim country, where there's no discrimination against Muslims. But the experience of women and immigrants is often discounted in these fantasies. And to be fair, when you're living there, especially as a child, it's all fun and games. It isn't until later that you start to discover the rot underneath the shiny veneer. I still remember the first time I read an article that detailed the deplorable circumstances under which most live-in maids (extremely common there) work. How their passports are taken so they can't leave, how they are abused and forced to work under horrible conditions. And that's just one example of the list of things that's wrong with the Gulf countries. The details in the book don't feel exaggerated even as it sounds impossible for a country to be that backwards, or to interpret what Islam says in such a wrong way.
Yousra Imran mentions in her note to the reader that "it is important to remember not to discount the experiecne of a woman if it is not an experience of your own". I think this is worth remembering more often.
Not everything in this book worked for me. I thought the whole "Sara gets interviewed to tell her life story" bit was unnecessary since it added nothing. The book could just as easily be a fictional autobiography and it would've worked fine. I also didn't like the way Arabic words were used within the text as they were usually followed by "this means ____". I've been seeing this trend in books recently where the words just aren't explained and readers are left to either guess at the meaning from context or to understand them because they happen to speak the language. I admit I prefer that style to this because it feels less infodumpy. The writing itself was also a miss for me, especially regarding the often very sudden transitions between scenes.
The story also ended kind of abruptly where Sara ends the interview with something along the lines of, "and now __ years and relationships later, here we are". I would've been interested in reading more about that.
Overall though, I still recommend this if you're looking for a book that can put you in someone else's shoes and will make you reflect.
Dannie is a lawyer with an ironclad 5 year plan. Work for Wachtell, the top law firm in the city. MarryI have a lot of mixed feelings about this book.
Dannie is a lawyer with an ironclad 5 year plan. Work for Wachtell, the top law firm in the city. Marry David, her long term boyfriend. Move to Gramercy. So when she has a strange dream of her future in five years, where she's living Dumbo instead of Gramercy and with a guy she doesn't recognize, she dismisses it, even though it felt real. Until 4.5 years later, she runs into the guy from her dream, and he's her best friend's new boyfriend.
The good thing is that this book didn't go the route I was expecting. It's definitely not a lighthearted read as it deals with some pretty heavy topics. The synopsis says "In Five Years is a love story, brimming with joy and heartbreak. But it is definitely not the love story you're expecting", which is...accurate, but kind of misleading since it makes it seem like this is a romance. It's not.
It's mostly about Dannie's relationship with Bella, her best friend, and the actual romantic relationships in the book are mere side stories. This is the love story the synopsis is referring to, and there is definitely heartbreak, I just don't really remember much joy.
The weakest part of the book for me is the ending. (view spoiler)[The dialogue in her dream makes sense at the time because Dannie wakes up in an apartment she doesn't recognize with a guy she doesn't recognize. She is confused and saying things like "do you know me?" and "I don't know where I am". But the author uses the exact same dialogue for the scene when it actually happens and tries to explain it:
“Do you know me?” I want to explain to him, although I suspect he understands, that I am not this person. That what has happened, what is happening, here, between us, is not me.
(hide spoiler)] It just feels like it's trying too hard, honestly.
This was a very quick read but fairly standard. The romance suffers from the typical competitions and jealousies you often find in YA contemporaries, This was a very quick read but fairly standard. The romance suffers from the typical competitions and jealousies you often find in YA contemporaries, as well as a relationship conflict that made me shake my head because everyone was overreacting.
I did really love the relationship between Lina and Howard though, would've liked to see more of that in the book instead. And the descriptions of Italy were awesome, am glad I visited Florence before reading this because I could picture the scenes in my head. The writing in general was pretty good as well....more
If you've started this book and are put off by the writing style, try to push through it, because I honestly think this is a book worth reading.
Water
If you've started this book and are put off by the writing style, try to push through it, because I honestly think this is a book worth reading.
Water flows from high places to low places. That is the nature of gravity. Emotions also seem to act according to gravity. When in the presence of someone with whom you have a bond, and to whom you have entrusted your feelings, it is hard to lie and get away with it. The truth just wants to come flowing out.
There's a small coffee shop in Tokyo that allows people to travel through time. But there are rules, quite a few of them, and most people don't have the patience for it. The rules say you can't change the past, so why would you want to go back? But there are some who have regrets so heavy that the only thing to give them a glimmer of hope is the possibility of closure. The book follows four people who decide to travel through time to face the decisions they've made and rectify missed opportunities.
I wonder sometimes what the process is when it comes to translating books and how much license a translator is given to change the text. The writing style in this book really reflects the original, but what works for Japanese sounds a bit clunky in English. But maybe this is intentional. It makes the book a bit hard to get into at first, and I didn't start warming up to it until the first visitor travels back in time. There is a scene that's written in a way that I could easily visualize as a scene from a manga, and I think it was at that point that I decided to ignore the style and focus on the story. It still took me a while to get through the book, but ultimately I'm glad I did.
There's just so much feeling in these stories and a lot of it is relatable. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever regretted something I said or, worse, something I didn't say but should have. The book explores this angle exquisitely, giving the characters the emotional catharsis they set out to find with a kind of whimsy I found really soothing. Some stories impacted me more than others but that will probably differ per reader and what they can relate to.
At the end of the day, whether one returns to the past or travels to the future, the present doesn't change.
Time-travel coffee shops may not exist, but I think we all spend some time travelling to the past or future in our heads, whether it's because we're dwelling on things that happened or because we're dreaming of a better future. And that doesn't change the present either, only action does. In this book the action is in the form of making different decisions so that when the characters return to the present they have no more regrets. And while that's not something we can actually do, I think it's good to be reminded sometimes that doing something is better than doing nothing, because doing nothing won't change anything.
When I finished the book I felt calm but also sad, and I think this is one that'll stick with me for a while.
CWs:(view spoiler)[Racism, Islamophobia, Grief, Child death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Suicide (hide spoiler)]
I bought this book a feCWs:(view spoiler)[Racism, Islamophobia, Grief, Child death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Suicide (hide spoiler)]
I bought this book a few years ago for 2 reasons: 1) I really loved this specific cover 2) I loved Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged by the same author, and was hoping for another win
It starts off on the wrong foot (for me) when Bilal's mother is on her death bed, and instead of using her last breaths to reaffirm her faith (something that all Muslims know about), the author makes it almost a haha funny moment where she decides to spend her final words on one last job for her son. That small, fairly insignificant moment, told me exactly what to expect from this book, which was probably a good thing, or I might have enjoyed it less.
Credits to the author, this is a very readable book. It's effortlessly engaging and entertaining, even though it deals with the enraging topic of small-mindedness within communities and Islamophobia. But it's also not a story that left a big impact on me by the end. I don't know if there was a better way to conclude the book, but it did feel a bit like a cop-out to me, a way to avoid actually dealing with the issue at the heart of this story. But I enjoyed my time with (most of) these characters nonetheless....more
This wasn't exactly the cute, fluffy YA romance I was looking for when I picked up this book but it's a solid read.
Frank Li has a problem; he's in loThis wasn't exactly the cute, fluffy YA romance I was looking for when I picked up this book but it's a solid read.
Frank Li has a problem; he's in love with a white girl. This wouldn't be a big deal, but Frank is Korean-American and his parents only want their children to date other Koreans. But the heart wants what it wants, so Frank makes a deal with Joy, the Korean girl his parents have been nudging him towards. They'll pretend to date so that he can date Brit and Joy can date Wu, who is also not Korean. This way their parents will all be happy and nobody will be the wiser.
I thought the romance was honestly kind of bland, which was a shame. The whole Frankenbrit thing came out of nowhere and felt pretty superficial. They weren't particularly cute and the only thing making the relationship deep is probably the underlying themes of racism, which has more to do with Frank's parents anyway. (view spoiler)[I think the same can be said for the Frank/Joy romance. That one had more build-up at least and was pretty predictable, but I could've done without the cheating and also without the "let's break up it's just too hard". (hide spoiler)]
One relationship I did enjoy reading about was Frank's relationship with Q, his best friend. That was cute and wholesome but also sadly underdeveloped considering something revealed at the end of the book.
The book tries to tackle a lot of themes, some more successfully than others. Frank not feeling like he fits in rings true and is something I could definitely relate to. I do think there are a couple of cop-outs here with easy resolves and a bunch of tropes I don't enjoy much, and the book could probably have been shorter. It reminded me of Kim's Convenience, actually, but I think I enjoyed the show more than I did this book.
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