This book is hard to rate because I liked parts of it, and couldn't stand other parts of it. I read this book because I received it from Page Habit a This book is hard to rate because I liked parts of it, and couldn't stand other parts of it. I read this book because I received it from Page Habit a few months ago, and it's Reese Witherspoon's book club pick for December, so I thought I would give it a chance. It follows this woman named Amber who becomes obsessed with this couple Daphne and Jackson Parrish, and she worms her way into their lives. Amber meets Daphne in the gym, and she makes up this lie about how her sister had cystic fibrosis (because she knows Daphne's sister died of it) and it takes off from there.
I always gravitate to thrillers like this for some reason, some of my favorite books of all time follow this trope of one person becoming obsessed with a couple like: Bad Mommy and Behind Her Eyes. But recently I've read some books that follows the same tropes over and over again and end up being disappointing, like this one, Behind Closed Doors, and The Wife Between Us. These three books end up actually being about (view spoiler)[an abusive relationship (hide spoiler)] when you were expecting it to be a thriller about this creepy stalker person getting involved with this couple.
I was really intrigued by the first part of this book, I couldn't wait to see where it was going and it was easily my favorite part of the book because Amber's POV is so twisted and fucked up but it's interesting and hard to put the book down! Then the second part changes to Daphne's POV and that's where the book really lost me. It felt exactly like (view spoiler)[Behind Closed Doors (hide spoiler)] and I couldn't really stomach it. It was really hard to read at times. The last part of the book is a mixture of both of their POV's and I enjoyed the third part, but I couldn't get past the second part...
The ending was good I guess, not really shocking or anything though. There weren't many plot twists in this book, and this book ended up being pretty similar to The Wife Between Us. Once again, I've seen this trope of (view spoiler)[the girl marries the perfect rich guy and then after they are married they turn into an abusive monster (hide spoiler)] I am so fucking sick and tired of this trope and it seems to be in every "psychological thriller" I read lately. I wouldn't consider these books to be psychological thrillers, because nothing "thriller" is happening... It's just dark woman's fiction maybe?
This book was okay, the first half is way better than the second half, and this book is too long for what it is. If you're looking for something like this about someone becoming obsessed with a couple, I would recommendBad Mommy or Behind Her Eyes over this one!...more
"How can anyone really move on from tragedy? I think we just find a way to deal with it, because time is going to move on, dragging us through the
"How can anyone really move on from tragedy? I think we just find a way to deal with it, because time is going to move on, dragging us through the days like a conveyor belt under our feet, whether we like it or not."
Holy fuck, this book just destroyed me in the best way possible. I read Emma Scott's Full Tilt earlier this year and really enjoyed it. I randomly stumbled across this book the other day, read the description, and immediately was intrigued and wanted to read it. Not only did I like this even more than Full Tilt but I can honestly say this is one of the best books I've ever read.
This story follows Zelda, a young girl who witnessed a tragedy in her family at the age of fourteen that has scarred her for life. She channels her pain into her artwork, and she writes graphic novels about the hero she wishes she could have been. She moves to New York City with hopes to publish this graphic novel, only to have her dreams shot down because "it has no heart". Zelda meets Beckett randomly at this restaurant he works at one night and has an inspiring conversation with him. She's about to leave back home to Las Vegas when she decides to try again one last time, and she asks to move into Beckett's apartment. Beckett is a messenger and waiter and he's struggling to pay his rent, so he allows her to move in. He also recently spent two years in prison and is on parole, and he punishes himself everyday for what he did.
This story follows two incredibly broken characters who find hope in each other again, and that is a trope I am 100% here for when it's done right. This book is devastating and beautiful and this romance is EVERYTHING. It's a slow burn romance, really fucking slow burn and it's fucking gorgeous. You can really feel these two characters slowly falling for each other day by day, but first there's an incredible friendship that they both need. Beckett is fucking precious and I was swooning every time he was in a scene - like for real, he's my new book crush, I absolutely adored him in this book. Zelda is incredibly strong and inspiring. And these two together have such amazing chemistry I was GIDDY.
I also love the atmosphere of New York City in this book, from their tiny studio apartment, to the bitter cold of the winter, to the scenes at the Rockefeller center, this book made me miss New York City so badly. The writing in this book is fucking gorgeous and it made me cry more than once. This story was crafted so perfectly, and I love how the graphic novel Zelda writes is so personal to her - it's such a gorgeous coming of age story for her character throughout this book. All the characters are so well-developed, even the characters in her graphic novel. This book reminded me of Eliza and Her Monsters, mostly because of the graphic novel writer elements, but also because the graphic novel is so important to the story. (view spoiler)[I love the scenes where they were writing her graphic novel together and he created the character Ryder, and his character helped her character see the world in a different way and they didn't realize they were really talking about each other, not the characters. The romance was so perfect and they didn't even kiss until almost page 200, but once they did OH MY LORD it was so worth it. They are so fucking cute together in their tiny studio apartment that's always freezing. I love how he wouldn't let her sleep on the air mattress anymore, he's such a fucking gentleman. Even the first night they met he walked her all the way home when it was completely out of his way - he's so fucking sweet. And the way he takes leftover food to the old lady down the hall and she knits him that sweater AWW. And when she left to spend Christmas with her family and she came back because she has a panic attack, and he was THERE for her and they got drunk and watched christmas movies and watched the snow fall and they were laying in bed and he was like: this is the best christmas I've ever had SO FUCKING CUTE I DIED. I LOVE THEM. I also love the way Beckett came up with Ryder's back story and he purposefully kind of made it similar to his own story. And when Beckett got in that accident when the car hit him aslkjdkalsdja. I also love how he always plays records and they are his most cherished items because of his Grandpa who raised him. (hide spoiler)]
I fucking cried at the end, I loved it so much. (view spoiler)[I cried once when Beckett met with Mrs. J (who was the wife of the man who died during his robbery) and she forgave him. I cried again when Roy and his wife adopted Beckett because alksjdklasda. Roy was his parole officer and him and his wife are SO CUTE. They're so protective of Beckett and they were never able to have their own kids, and holy fuck it was just the cutest thing ever. (hide spoiler)] This is easily a new all time favorite for me, and I don't say that lightly. This book blew my fucking socks off, and that doesn't happen often. Emma Scott has been a home-run for me every book so far, her writing is AMAZING. Her writing really does remind me of Brittainy c Cherry's writing. If you haven't read from this author yet, pick this book up now!
Random side note: She mentioned at some point that Beckett has blue eyes and blonde hair, and he is a criminal so excuse me while I picture Ryan Gosling's character form The Place Beyond The Pines.
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(view spoiler)[
"Why did you call the time travel agency the Butterfly project?" "It's a little bit of a chaos theory. A butterfly flutters its wings in Malaysia and the change sin the air currents cause a hurricane in Florida. I love that idea. That even one tiny action can create an enormous effect. The agents who work for the Butterfly Project want to erase the tragedies that spread misery and pain in the hopes that better things will ripple out instead. Goodness, kindness, happiness, all the 'nesses."(hide spoiler)]...more
Warning: unpopular opinion. I cannot for the life of me understand the high ratings and great reviews this book is getting. The description for this bWarning: unpopular opinion. I cannot for the life of me understand the high ratings and great reviews this book is getting. The description for this book on goodreads literally says: "Discover the next blockbuster novel of suspense, and get ready for the read of your life." Blockbuster novel of suspense? Did I just read the right book? Is this a joke or...?
This book claims to be a suspense/thriller but it's neither of those things. It's a mystery that is dragged out throughout the entire book, that I couldn't give two fucks about honestly. I made an update around the 200 page mark where I complained that nothing interesting had even happened in the story yet and I wasn't sure if I should finish it, but I did and... god damn this book was my Everest. It took so much energy to finish this book because of how bored I was by the story. The title and the goodreads description of this book make it seem like it's going to be some crazy twisted love triangle with so many plot twists and that it's going to be so different form anything else you've ever read, but in reality it's this ridiculously annoying love triangle with a main chaarcter who is obsessed with her ex-husband and a few lame "plot twists" get thrown in along the way. The majority of this book is the main character Vanessa having flashbacks of her marriage with Richard and how "omg he was so perfect then" and "omg where did it all go wrong?" and it was so boring. The writing style is confusing too because I was always confused when it would randomly dive into a flashback and then randomly come back to the present. I never knew what scenes were taking place currently and what scenes were flashbacks, it was just very unorganized.
This book attempts to make a 'plot twist' at the end of part one, which is around the 150 page mark, but it doesn't really change anything in the story. (view spoiler)[Like omg so you're telling me Nellie is actually Vanessa the entire time, and Nellie's parts were all just flashbacks of the beginning of her marriage with Richard? Cool. Doesn't change anything and I still don't know what went wrong in their marriage. (hide spoiler)] It's not a great plot twist, and I was expecting more from the next two parts. When I finally realized what this story is about towards the end, and I realized there wouldn't be any mind blowing plot twists, I was really disappointed. At the end of the day this is just another one of those stories where (view spoiler)[the main character Vanessa marries a man and he turns into this crazy, abusive asshole out of nowhere, and then she tries to escape from him. I'm just really tired of the 'I married a sweet guy and he turned out to be an abusive monster' trope in mysteries. It's gotten really old for me really fast. I just assumed this story would have more to it than that. Not to mention, I was irritated with Vanessa for 99% of the story because I'm like... If Richard was so abusive and you got away, why the hell are you still obsessing over him and trying to contact them? I know she's trying to 'save Emma' or whatever but still... Especially in part one she's constantly talking about how much she misses him and how great he used to be... like I'm sorry but get the fuck over it, he's disgusting and abusive. (hide spoiler)]
I just hate that the main mystery happening in this story is trying to figure out what went wrong in Vanessa and Richard's marriage, and when it's finally revealed it's very obvious and basic and this mystery doesn't bring anything new to the table that we haven't seen in mysteries ten million times. I think this book tries to be clever and it just epically fails, and it was just so boring. The only good thing this book has going for it is the epilogue, which did have a plot twist that I didn't see coming - but even that did not make this book worth reading. I feel like I wasted my day off reading this, so read at your own risk. I don't recommend this.
Thank you to Book of the Month for sending me this book as one of their December selections!...more
This book was cute but forgettable. This is a male/male romance that follows Ethan and Sean. Sean is openly gay and Ethan is straight. Ethan goes out This book was cute but forgettable. This is a male/male romance that follows Ethan and Sean. Sean is openly gay and Ethan is straight. Ethan goes out to a gay bar with a co-worker one night and meets Sean there. Later that night when he's leaving the bar, he gets jumped and held at gun point by a mugger and Sean comes to the rescue when he spots him. From there they become friends, and then they later discover romantic feelings for each other.
This book is written well. This is my second time reading from Riley Hart, and the romance is always really great and the characters always have great chemistry. I guess my main problem with her books though is that there is nothing more to her stories than the romance. I guess I just wanted something more from this story. The story was cute but as I said it's forgettable, it doesn't bring anything new to romance that I've read a million times before. It could be a lot shorter even though it's already pretty short. It took me nearly a month to read this because I was only reading a few chapters at a time and I just wasn't obsessed with this story. This story was just meh....more
I'm kind of torn over how I feel about this book. There are things I liked about this story, and then there were some cliche and cringe-y things that I'm kind of torn over how I feel about this book. There are things I liked about this story, and then there were some cliche and cringe-y things that I didn't like. This story follows Bridget, a nurse who's husband recently died and left her with their eight-year-old son Brendan. She meets Dr. Simon Hogue in the emergency room when she has an awkward accident. Then months later she is looking for a roommate and one of her friends is friend with Simon and recommends him, she didn't know it was that doctor from the night in the emergency room until after he's moved in.
Things I liked about this story: 1) Bridget is older than Simon by five years. She is 34 and he is 29. I feel like it's rare in romance novels to read about women who are older than the male love interest and I haven't read much of it. The only other book that comes to mind is Dating You / Hating You. 2) Some of the romance was cute as hell. I adored the letter-writing back and forth between these two characters and I appreciate the fact that this is not insta-love, it's actually a pretty decent slow build romance 3) I adored the relationship that formed between Simon and Bridget's son Brendan. That was some cute shit and I felt so bad with Brendan and his lack of a father figure in his life. Seeing Simon take him under his wing was so cute. I especially love the scenes during Brendan's field day at school.
Things I didn't like about this story: 1) Simon's character got on my nerves sometimes and was a bit too controlling at times (at least in my opinion) I hated when he would tell her to do something and she would say are you asking or telling? and he would just be like i'm telling. I also didn't like how sometimes he would make decisions for her and be over the top vulgar and sexual at inappropriate times (like in their doctors office). (view spoiler)[Like when he bought the bikini for her like some kind of suggay daddy? and then asked her to send him pictures of her, and he took pictures of himself at work - inappropriate pictures - and sent them to her. I also didn't like that scene where Simon was asking her to 'handle' the probe with a patient and using language that was sexual, like really? you have to do that in front of a patient? (hide spoiler)] 2) The romance ends up being this kind of cliche thing of 'he doesn't want to ever settle down' and 'he's not looking for a family' and all that shit that you've heard a million times but Bridget is the only one to make him change his ways. Sometimes I love this trope, but lately I'm getting bored with it 3) Some of the sex scenes were very uninspired. They didn't add anything to the story and most of them were over so quickly, with lack of detail and idk I just feel like they could've been written better. 4) Some really random dramatic shit always seems to happen just to make Simon seem like a hero all the time. This is hard to explain without giving away spoilers but it always seems like something dangerous happens just so Simon can save the day and Bridget looks like such a weak character as a result of it. (view spoiler)[Like when there's a fire in the kitchen and Simon puts it out because Bridget doesn't know what to do. Or when her kid falls off his bike and Simon immediately runs to him and helps him while Bridget is watching in shock. (hide spoiler)]
Overall, this story was just okay. Not one of my favorites from Vi Keeland. I feel like I'm just getting more and more picky the more romance I read....more
“fiction: the ocean i dive headfirst into when i can no longer breathe in reality."
Lately I've been getting onto poetry, and this collection has
“fiction: the ocean i dive headfirst into when i can no longer breathe in reality."
Lately I've been getting onto poetry, and this collection has been recommended to me a number of times already. This collection of poetry is really gorgeous, and kind of tells this story. It's separated into four parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, and you. Each section feels a little different form the others but they all contain strong poems about feminism and overcoming grief.
"when i had no friends i reached into my beloved books & sculpted some out of 12 pt times new roman."
I LOVE the poems about reading and fiction and the power of words. They were the most relatable poems for me and they just really struck a chord with me. I LOVE the poems about sisterhood and death and falling in love again. LOVE the poems about feminism and women's rights. I kind of low-key cried when I read this poem: “when I die, do not waste a minute mourning me. I may go, but I will leave behind all my thousand & one lives — a bookmad girl never dies.” That one really made me emotional because I couldn't help thinking people might think of me that way when I die. I also really loved this one: "my sister and i spent our nights wishing upon the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars plastered to our ceiling" because I can relate so hard to it and it made me feel nostalgic for my childhood when I had plastic stars on my ceiling.
"i was born a little bookmad. i could be found stroking the spines of my books while i sat locked alone inside my bedroom. all the while, i hoped my books would spill their exquisite words over the lush green carpet so i could collect them one by one & savor them like berries inside my mouth"
The only reason I knocked off a star is because this does read like a story, which I do like, but sometimes the individual poems can't stand on their own, and don't really have any power on their own. Some of the poems read individually without the context of the other poems just sound like random thoughts, and so I think some of them could've been taken out and didn't really add anything to the story. But as a whole, I really liked the idea that this collection of poetry reads like a story and it made it all seem so much more personal to the author.(view spoiler)[This shit also made me cry: "when your mother begins to forget your name, you begin to wonder if you exist at all." because I can't fucking imagine my mother forgetting who I am and I would be so devastated. A lot of the poems about her Mom getting cancer and dying and her sister getting cancer and dying made me so fucking emotional. That was powerful stuff. (hide spoiler)]
"Ah, life- the thing that happens to us while we're off somewhere else blowing on dandelions & wishing ourselves into the pages of our favorite fairy tales."
"i do not weep because i'm unhappy, i weep because i have everything yet i am unhappy."
Holy shit, I enjoyed this book even more than Milk and Hone
"i do not weep because i'm unhappy, i weep because i have everything yet i am unhappy."
Holy shit, I enjoyed this book even more than Milk and Honey. This is a collection of poetry divided into five chapters: wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. The poems mainly revolve around grief, self love, self hate, rape, immigration, feminism, depression and empowerment. My favorite parts of this poetry collection were the longer poems that told a story and had a thin black box surrounding it. My two favorites are home and the art of growing. Those are both incredibly powerful poems about rape and feminism that really hit home for me.
"i can't wrap my head around the fact that i have to convince half the world's population my body is not their bed i am busy learning the consequences of womanhood when i should be learning science and math instead."
The main reason I liked this collection of poetry more than Milk and Honey is because this collection reads like a story, and it has so many amazing and insightful poems about immigration and feminism that really moved me. I loved the stories about her parents and the struggles they overcame in America, and how she isn't ashamed of who she is, and you can really tell she thinks the world of her Mother and I think it's so beautiful. Especially the poem about female infanticide really struck a chord with me and made me really depressed. She effortlessly covers such controversial topics in these poems and it's so refreshing, her voice is so powerful.
"they leave and act like it never happened, they come back and act like they never left."
I just feel really inspired and empowered after reading this. I feel like the main theme of these poems is summed up perfectly by this one poem: "how do i teach myself to accept a healthy love if all i've ever known is pain." This collection of poems is about falling out of love and finding someone new and I like the way it kind of reads like a story in that way. I am just blown away by how powerful some of these poems about feminism are and some of them gave me fucking chills and I loved it.
"there are mountains growing beneath our feet that cannot be contained all we've endured has prepared us for this bring your hammers and fists we have a glass ceiling to shatter"
“The great tragic love story of Percy and me is neither great nor truly a love story, and is tragic only for its single-sidedness." Well, holy shit I a“The great tragic love story of Percy and me is neither great nor truly a love story, and is tragic only for its single-sidedness." Well, holy shit I adored this book. I'm not much of a historical fiction reader but this book has been recommended to me by everyone under the sun, so I decided why not give it a chance - and this book completely blew me away! This is an adorable M/M romance that takes place in the 1700's, and it's so much more than that! This book has action, adventure, feminism, pirates, inter-racial gay relationships, and so much more. This story follows Henry Montague and Percy as they take a tour around Europe after they finish school for the year. They travel through Paris, Marseilles, Barcelona, Venice, etc.
Henry (known as Monty throughout the book) has always been very close friends with Percy his whole life, but he's always had feelings for him. He doesn't know if Percy feels the same way and since it's the 1700's and LGBT relationships are mostly unheard of - he's afraid to act on it. This romance between Monty and Percy is the fucking cutest slow-build romance ever and I shipped it so hard. Monty as a narrator is so charming and cocky and hilarious, and Percy is so sensitive and he's a man of color, which I really appreciate the representation in that! On this tour of Europe, Monty takes his sister Felicity with him, and she's this amazing feminist that was totally unexpected and awesome! She had so many amazing quotes about feminism, I was cackling. I also love how she talks about wanting to work in the medical field but she can't because women weren't allowed to back then. I especially loved this: “Just thinking about all that blood." I nearly shudder. "Doesn't it make you a bit squeamish?" "Ladies haven't the luxury of being squeamish about blood," she replies, and Percy and I go fantastically red in unison.”
The writing in this book is so gorgeous too, and I actually liked the historical feel to it (I usually don't in books and I get bored with it very easily) but it made this book so charming! I am really surprised by how much I liked this one and I would highly recommend it!...more
What a fucking disappointment. I really like Alessandra Torre's writing and I have really enjoyed some of her previous books, but this book failed forWhat a fucking disappointment. I really like Alessandra Torre's writing and I have really enjoyed some of her previous books, but this book failed for me on so many levels. This book is Alessandra Torre's first "suspense" novel that doesn't have any romance. Unfortunately, there is little to no suspense, and instead we get this long boring story about an author writing a story. Helena Ross is a best selling author and she finds out some devastating news, and decides it's time to finally write the story she's been wanting to tell for years. So literally 95% of this book is just scenes of Helena writing this book that's so mysterious and so secretive, and we don't figure out what actually happens within the story until the last few chapters of the book.
I wanted to put this book down so many times because it's so boring and wordy and there's so much filler. The reason I ended up giving it two stars instead of one is because the ending was unpredictable and I appreciate that at least, but the ending still was not worth the long wait of this entire book. I just felt like nothing happened in this book, or at least nothing worth giving a shit about. I also didn't understand the need for random chapters from Kate and Mark's POV's... it didn't add to the story and they were just extra filler shit that was completely unnecessary.
Not to mention, Helena is the most bitter bitch I think I've ever read about. After reading it, I understand why she is the way she is, but my god she is a fucking bitch to everyone. Her agent, Kate has only met her once even though she has been her agent for years because Helena doesn't let anyone in her house, she only communicates through email. The way Helena is to her husband and her daughter and her Mom, I couldn't understand why she was constantly being a fucking bitch to them all the time. I don't think there was one scene in this book where I didn't want to strangle Helena. She just has the worst, pessimistic negative attitude I've ever seen, and she's the main reason why I couldn't stand this book....more
I loved Roe Horvat's debut novel The Layover, so when I heard about this one I was very excited to read it. This book follows a 30-year-old creative wI loved Roe Horvat's debut novel The Layover, so when I heard about this one I was very excited to read it. This book follows a 30-year-old creative writing professor / author named Alex, and an 18-year-old student studying to become a doctor named Christian.
One thing I really liked about this book is that it takes place in Freiburg in Germany, which is really fascinating! Almost all of the books I read take place in America, so I always really enjoy reading books that take place in other countries, and just like Roe Horvat's debut novel, these characters are both culturally diverse, which I super appreciated. Another thing I really enjoyed about this book is the twelve year age gap between the two main characters, by the time the story really picks up Alex is 33 and Christian is 21, so it's not a huge age gap, but it's still a large enough age gap to be interesting. I also really love the side character Dieter, Christian's straight room mate, and I thought he was hilarious.
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As for the things I didn't like: this story was not as powerful as Horvat's debut novel: The Layover. That book hit me with all the emotion feels, and this one I thought was just okay. The romance took forever to actually happen, and it's one of those annoying things where everyone knows they are supposed to be together except for the main character, so you're just waiting and waiting for them to figure out they both want each other even though it's so obvious... Alex is incredibly insecure, and he thinks the twelve year age gap is too much and he thinks Christian only sees him as this old man that he gets advice from, and it just got really repetitive with Alex thinking this way... Like if they just had one conversation about how they were feeling, so much of the confrontational bull shit could have been avoided and this story would have been a lot shorter. (It's only one hundred something pages to begin with.)
This story was good, but it wasn't great. It's a quick, short read though so I'm not complaining, and I will still pick up anything Roe Horvat writes in the future. I really do adore her writing style and her diverse characters, and I love that her books always take place in different countries!...more
This is my first book from Melanie Harlow, and I am so impressed. I randomly picked up this book because I was in the mood for a romance, and I wasn'tThis is my first book from Melanie Harlow, and I am so impressed. I randomly picked up this book because I was in the mood for a romance, and I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did. This book follows a girl named Hannah, who was married to this doctor named Drew. Drew died of a heart attack at thirty four, and she has been left to raise their five year old daughter Abby on her own. Drew's twin brother Wes returns home after spending years in Africa (he's also a doctor), and having him in town again is strange for Hannah and Abby (considering the fact that he looks exactly identical to Drew).
This story really got to me for a few reasons: 1) I love forbidden romance. This is definitely a forbidden romance because Wes is her brother-in-law, I mean I know Drew died and everything but still. It's forbidden because it would be very confusing for Abby to see her Mom with her Uncle who looks exactly like her Dad. Sp this had the perfect formula for an incredibly forbidden romance. 2) Wes is a doctor. I know this is so shallow, but I have a weakness for romances where the male love interest is a doctor. I mean, anything like a doctor, police officer, pilot, etc. I love a man in uniform. And because he's a doctor he's extremely protective of her and is able to take care of her and I just love it. Wes in general is one of my favorite male characters of all time, I adore him. Also, there is a surprising amount of plot twists thrown in and conflicts to keep the story moving and keep it interesting. Like, Wes's Mother who doesn't like Hannah and never really has. And (view spoiler)[when we find out that Drew cheated on her, and Wes liked her first even before she met Drew, and how their Mom set Wes up on a date with the woman Drew cheated on her with, and all that fun stuff lol (hide spoiler)] This book also had me crying several times, it was just very emotional seeing Hannah grieving Drew so much and struggling with the fact that Wes looks exactly like him... I can't imagine how difficult that would be.
I knocked off a star because the last third of the book got a little too repetitive and dramatic in my opinion. I wanted to strangle Hannah just a little bit with her repetitive use of: "this will never work" and "but what will everyone say" and "what will this do to Abby?" and "I'm a terrible mother".... it just got old after the first fifty times. But other than that small annoying thing, I really enjoyed this book a whole lot.
Hannah and Wes are the new OTP, and now I want to read all of Melanie Harlow's books... I just read the description of one of her other books and realized some of the side characters I really liked in this book actually have their own book! So I really want to read that now! :) This is easily one of my new favorite romance novels!...more
I've been wanting to read this book for years now... and I didn't know this book is actually a sequel until after I read it, but thankfully I enjoyed I've been wanting to read this book for years now... and I didn't know this book is actually a sequel until after I read it, but thankfully I enjoyed this book a lot. This story follows Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee who is hunting down a serial killer known by the name of Buffalo Bill, who is on a woman-killing spree. She needs the help of Dr. Hannibal Lecter in order to find him, so she visits him in the insane asylum from time to time.
Hannibal Lecter is by far one of the most fascinating, strange, charming and knowledgeable characters I've ever read about. He's easily the best part of this book - he's extremely smart (he's a psychologist) and he's disturbing as fuck, but there's just something about his character that I find so fascinating. Every line he has in this book is calculated and well thought-out, and he's by far one of the most interesting characters I've read about in a long time. (view spoiler)[And Hannibal's escape was genius and badass and so gross but also amazing. (hide spoiler)]
I wanted to read this book in October because I've heard that this story is one of the creepiest stories ever, which is true in some aspects. Some of the scenes with the serial killer were truly disturbing, and especially getting inside the mind of Hannibal Lecture and reading from his truly strange POV was very creepy but also enjoyable. I thought Buffalo Bill's motivation for killing the women was very fascinating and real (he wasn't just killing them for fun, he had a very interesting purpose.) (view spoiler)[I thought it was so interesting that Jame Gumb, the serial killer is a transsexual who was rejected three times when he asked to change genders and now he wants to wear the women's skin of the women he kills. Very morbid but also realistic I think? (hide spoiler)]
I also really enjoyed the psychology behind trying to figure out why Hannibal is the way he is, and how he can be such a monster but so incredibly smart. I love when he tells Starling: “Nothing happened to me, Officer Starling. I happened. You can't reduce me to a set of influences.” All the behavioral psychology talk in this book was really interesting to me!
Overall, very intense, suspenseful story with truly fascinating villains and characters. I took off a star in my rating because at times the story did feel a little slow and I got bored with some of Clarice's scenes. But I really did enjoy this story, and the last sentence of this book is particularly haunting.
Disclaimer: I haven't actually seen the movie yet, but I plan to watch it ASAP now that I've actually read the book! (I know it's a shame I haven't watched it yet considering it's apparently one of the greatest films of all time.)...more
I read Archer's Voice earlier this year and I liked it a lot, so I was really stoked when I got the chance to read this book early! Sadly, this book eI read Archer's Voice earlier this year and I liked it a lot, so I was really stoked when I got the chance to read this book early! Sadly, this book ended up being just okay to me. This is a love story ebtween two very broken people: Crystal, a stripper who had abandonment issues and a shitty Father as a kid, and Gabriel: a man who can't be physically touched because he was kidnapped and locked in a basement for over six years when he was a kid, and it's had some long-lasting trauma for him as an adult. This story had all the ingredients to be an amazing story - but it was just lacking that something for me.
First of all, the romance just screams insta-love which is almost never a good sign for me. Gabriel see's Crystal in the strip club and falls head over heels for her so fast and doesn't want anyone else and I didn't really understand why... For Crystal it makes more sense because Gabriel is the only man to ever show her respect, but for Gabriel to fall for her so quickly, idk I just wasn't feeling it. The tone and mood of this book was strange because the characters had such dark, terrible pasts and some of their conversations and things that happen to them are so dark and terrible, and yet the mood of this book is so fluffy and light, so it didn't have the emotional impact on me I was expecting it to have on me... With Archer's Voice, I really felt for those characters and was interested in their love story, but with Gabriel and Crystal, I just wasn't feeling it as much for some reason.
It's hard to write a good new adult romance novel, because everything has been done before, and this isn't a terrible book by any means, but it also doesn't bring anything new to the table for me either. It's not particularly memorable because I've read so many stories like this before, so I had trouble connecting with it on an emotional level. Maybe over time I've become too cynical, but I have high expectations for my romance novels now and this one just didn't really do it for me. I'm rating it three stars because even though it wasn't for me, it isn't a bad book and I think a lot of people will probably love it, but for me: I feel like I've read this story a hundred times.
THANK YOU Forever Romance Books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!...more
2.5 stars This is the second book I've read from Kate Moretti, and I'll be honest, once again I'm left feeling a bit disappointed. This is a very compe2.5 stars This is the second book I've read from Kate Moretti, and I'll be honest, once again I'm left feeling a bit disappointed. This is a very compelling mystery about a small town erupting into chaos when blackbirds fall out of the sky. There's so much happening in this story that has so much potential: student/teacher romance that is very controversial, blackbirds falling out of the sky, a family falling apart from the lies. I was very intrigued by all of these characters and the story, but the end result kind of fell flat for me unfortunately. The most intruiging part of the story for me had to be the student/teacher relationship and trying to figure out who was telling the truth and what really happened between Nate and Lucia. Another aspect of the story I really liked is that Alecia and Nate's son Gabe is autistic, and I appreciate the representation of that in this story.
Other than that, this story felt kind fo boring and it was like watching the real story from a distance. The real story is happening with Lucia and her teenage friends, but we get to hear this story through the teachers Nate and Bridget, and it felt like I was watching the actual story from afar. If this story only followed Lucia's character instead of jumping around to other POV's I think the story could have been a lot stronger. I also found it kind of confusing when it would jump around to multiple different POV's and time jump to different times of the year. It was hard to keep track of when exactly everything happened. Also, the writing got very wordy at times and this book is long because of it, it easily could've been cut down by 50 pages or more.
I will say that I did enjoy this book more than her other book The Vanishing Year, but this book definitely still had some problems. I just couldn't get invested in the story and it took me over a week to finish this book! It never takes me that long to read a book... but oh well. It's still a decent thriller even though I'm not really satisfied with the way it ended. (view spoiler)[I was so excited about the blackbirds falling and the whole "Lucia is a witch" aspect of the book and in the end finding out everything was a "coincidence" was really disappointing for me. Also, to find out in the end the affair didn't actually happen and Lucia's friend was the one who killed her... like what was the point then? Of the story following Nate instead of Lucia? The real drama was happening between characters we barely know, and Nate is innocent. I just found the ending to be very underwhelming. (hide spoiler)]THANK YOU TO ATRIA BOOKS FOR SENDING ME AN ARC IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW...more
4.5 stars "You are a universe." Holy shit, I am an emotional wreck after finishing this book. Thank you so much to my friend Dylan for recommending me t4.5 stars "You are a universe." Holy shit, I am an emotional wreck after finishing this book. Thank you so much to my friend Dylan for recommending me this book. I think, like he described it, this book can be described as a new adult version of The Fault in Our Stars, but instead of cancer it's a heart transplant patient. This story follows Kacey, the guitarist in her band who is just on the brink of becoming hugely successful. One drunken night, she meets Jonah, who happens to be her limo driver for her band. What she doesn't know is that Jonah is suffering from a heart transplant (this isn't a spoiler) and doesn't have much time left.
“You are a universe, Kacey. I kept waiting to find the end of your love and beauty, the end of your generous heart. I never did. I never will.”
This story kind of punched me in the gut and I wasn't expecting it to be so emotional for me, but god damn. I was a crying mess by the end of this beautiful story. This story is gorgeously written, it kind of reminded me of Brittainy c Cherry's writing with how beautiful it is. It has so many amazing, complex characters that the author forces you to give a shit about, and I love that. Jonah, and his heart condition, and his fear that he has of leaving something behind. His brother, Theo and how deeply he cares about his brother. Kacey, who is struggling with her family and their nonacceptance of her career in music. Lola, Kacey's best friend and band mate who helped her off the streets when she was only seventeen. Jonah's parents who are incredibly supportive, and will do anything to see their son happy and healthy, and Kacey's parents, who are fucking terrible and emotion-less robots. All these characters felt so real, and this story really moved me because of that. Jonah's sickness felt so real and never like it was thrown in the readers face or just trying to make you cry, I actually felt so much sympathy for him, and I just really fucking love his character.
"A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time." - Mark Twain.
This was such a gorgeous story that really weighs so heavily on my heart. I am sure this story and these characters will be on my mind for a long time. I actually can't wait to read the sequel. “We might not have months or years, but we have moments. Thousands upon thousands of them. Let’s take each moment, seize it and wring it dry.”...more
I really tried to get into this book, but I just couldn't. I tried for days, picking it up and putting it back down again and I've come to the decisioI really tried to get into this book, but I just couldn't. I tried for days, picking it up and putting it back down again and I've come to the decision that this story just isn't for me. I don't like any of the characters and I don't care about their story. All I knew going into this book is that it follows a celebrity: Eli Walsh, and that's enough to intrigue me right away: I love books that follow actors. Come to find out, he's not so much an actor really, but he's the lead singer in this boy band that's having a reunion concert, and our main character Heather used to be a huge fan of him.
I guess what I love most in a romance in the angst and the build up, and then when the couple finally admits feelings or gets together, it's the greatest feeling ever. But in this book, they were having sex by page 36, and there was absolutely no build up. The main character Heather is so insanely insecure, it was driving me crazy. She constantly has to remind the reader that she is only average looking at best, but of course Eli thinks she's the most beautiful fucking thing hes's ever seen. He literally says "You're beautiful" and she responds by saying: "I'm average." I can't stand girls like that, like how about just say THANK YOU and move on? Quit being so insecure when he's telling you how beautiful you are. This book is just full of cliche after cliche, and I couldn't connect with any of it. I don't like how when they first meet, Eli's only real intentions are to get laid, he doesn't really care about her until she leaves shortly after their hook up and he's confused because "they never leave" and he's always the one asking the girl to leave, and all that egotistical bull shit. So it's because she damaged his ego that he pursues her, and then they have conversations like: "So tell me Heather... who are you?" And her response: "I'm just me." Like oh my god, I eye rolled so hard. I thought it was so cheesy how our main girl character is a cop, so of course she just happens to pull over Eli, like I'm sorry I can't. And you're telling me a police officer wouldn't notice if her own license was missing? I find that incredibly hard to believe. For a female character that should've been a total bad-ass police officer, this book makes her look like an idiot. I also don't love how Eli seems like such a money-hungry asshole when he's negotiating his contracts with the tv show he's on and they want him to take a pay cut cause he's "easily the highest paid actor on the show" and he's just like "I don't care, not my problem", it just makes him seem like such a diva and it really bothered me.
Huge thank you to Corinne Michaels for sending me a signed copy of this book, that was incredibly sweet of her, but this book was just not for me....more
This book is just meh. I was really excited when I first heard about this book because I love Krysten Ritter, I love Jessica Jones and I loved her chaThis book is just meh. I was really excited when I first heard about this book because I love Krysten Ritter, I love Jessica Jones and I loved her character in Breaking Bad (my favorite show of all time) and I was really excited when I found out she wrote a thriller! Unfortunately, this book ended up being a disappointment. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really my jam. It follows this girl named Abby who used to live in this town called The Barrens, and she was bullied constantly in high school by this vicious group of girls. Now, many years later she's coming back to Barrens as a lawyer to stop this company from polluting the water, and when she does - she discovers a lot of the towns secrets, and discovers the truth about what really happened with the vicious girls who used to bully her.
This book didn't really bring anything new to the table as far as thrillers go. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters, and there was a lot of filler that seemed unnecessary: like the romance Abby has with two different men that went nowhere. There was also a lot of "lawyer talk" that made me kind of bored out of my mind and made my eyes gloss over. I started skimming after the first hundred pages because I was growing bored with the story, and then the climax was interesting and surprising, but then it's all resolved and rushed to a conclusion within 15 pages.
Emily May's review perfectly captured my thoughts on how I felt about this book. This book wasn't bad, it just wasn't very good either. It was 100% forgettable....more
I read The Couple Next Door last year and I loved it! Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as her first book. This is an adult thriller thaI read The Couple Next Door last year and I loved it! Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as her first book. This is an adult thriller that follows a married couple: Karen and Tom. Tom comes home late from work one night and discovers his wife Karen isn't home, her car is gone, but she left her cell phone and purse behind and seemed to be in the middle of making dinner. He is immediately confused and scared and can't figure out what happened. Karen gets in a really bad car accident that night and experiences amnesia after she gets a bad head wound, and she can't remember anything that happened that night she left the house without her purse.
This book intrigued me because it's Shari Lapena and I enjoyed her first book, and because I genuinely thought it sounded interesting. This book is good don't get me wrong, but it's not as good as I was hoping for. It kept me flipping the pages that's for sure, I started this book this afternoon and finished it in one day, so it's definitely a page-tuner which is good, but this book follows a really basic "thriller" formula I feel like. It was a little predictable in some parts, and I feel like I've read this story many times before... I also didn't really care for any of the characters (or what happened to them). Tom immediately turns his back on his wife and starts questioning her, which I could kind of understand where he was coming from at times, but at the same time... she's your wife... and he turned his back on her so fast it was sad.
Also, I didn't like how it constantly mentioned that Karen is just a suburban housewife and she "shouldn't be driving in such a bad neighborhood" it just felt kind of like stereotyping people? Idk, it just bothered me. I also didn't like how the two main female characters in this book spend the entire book lusting after the same man... A man who isn't even that great and he's a coward but...
Overall, this book was okay but it's not memorable and it's not as good as Shari Lapena's debut novel. But I would still read anything she writes....more
Thank you so much to Cordelia Jensen for sending me an ARC! This book comes out in March 2018! There are things that I absolutely loved about this booThank you so much to Cordelia Jensen for sending me an ARC! This book comes out in March 2018! There are things that I absolutely loved about this book, and other things that I thought were just okay. This story follows a girl named Linc, who has an adopted sister named Holly. She is always trying to live up to her Mom's expectations of her, and she has this constant feeling of letting her parents down and failing to live up to their high standards. This story is told in poetic verse, and is beautifully written. I was a huge fan of Jensen's debut novel Skyscraping, so I was very excited for this new release!
Like Skyscraping, this story is a very powerful story about family. It's about finding your place in your family, and feeling accepted in your family for who you are. I loved the poetry and metaphors in this book that made me fall in love with Cordelia Jensen's writing in the first place. I also love the diversity with these characters: her sister is adapted from Ghana, and has dark skin, and her best friend is a lesbian. So I appreciate the representation in this novel! I also thought the family dynamics were really interesting, because Linc is always trying to live up to her straight-A's sister Holly, and their Mom is a doctor and has very high expectations for both her daughters, but Linc always feels like she's disappointing them. Linc is obsessed with photography and arts, and her parents don't understand it and don't think it's important. I definitely related to her and understood her in the way she loves creativity and her art and thinks it's just as important as her education. I also related to her with the way she constantly felt alone and like she didn't "belong" in high school. Her sister has a boyfriend, and her best friend has a girlfriend, and she feels so alone most of the time, and I definitely related to that, considering I was always the only one in my group of friends without a boyfriend as well.
Now, for the things I didn't really care for: Linc's love interest in this story. The romance felt so inta-love and forced, and I didn't see them chemistry or like him at all. I thought he was shady and weird and it felt like they'd barely spoken to each other before they were kissing and "dating". Linc was difficult to relate to at times because she is very naive and makes bad decision after bad decision and at times it made me want to strangle her a little bit. But this could also be because I am getting too old for YA stories like this, or see this repetitive behavior in YA books and am getting tired of it. Linc always says she wants to do better and achieve so many things, and then she makes careless, stupid decisions all the time and hates herself more for it, and she falls into this never-ending cycle of that.
Overall, I did really enjoy this story and I think Cordelia Jensen is a fantastic writer. Even though I didn't love Linc as a main character, I still think this is a very powerful, good story about family and finding yourself. There is no doubt that Cordelia Jensen is a very talented writer and I will definitely be checking out all of her future books!...more
Closer to a 4.5 Damn, what a story! I loved it. This book follows an author named Liza, who is losing her audience as a mystery writer. Her last book dCloser to a 4.5 Damn, what a story! I loved it. This book follows an author named Liza, who is losing her audience as a mystery writer. Her last book didn't do so well and she's feeling a lot of pressure to write the next great thriller. On top of that, she's struggling with trying to get pregnant and not being able to. This is a story within-a-story and we get to see the new book she's writing in alternating chapters. Her story follows a new Mother named Beth who finds out her husband Jake is cheating on her. The lines between fiction and reality begin to blur and the chapters from her book start to blend into her reality. Eventually, Liza struggles to figure out what is real and what is fiction, and the reader is left wondering as well.
This was such a well-crafted, amazing suspenseful story! I love unreliable main characters, and Liza definitely qualifies as one. While she's on her hormones (from trying to get pregnant) she suffers from some memory loss, which makes her the perfect unreliable narrator. I love the way Beth's thoughts (her character) would sometimes sneak into Liza's subconscious. I also really love books that follow writers/authors, because I find them so interesting and relatable and I love reading their thoughts on what it's like to be a writer.
I did guess one of the plot twists that happened towards the end, but I still really loved seeing all the secrets unravel. (view spoiler)[I guessed the part that her husband was gay for his law partner Nick from the beginning, my gay-dar was going off like crazy haha. But I still loved seeing her react to it. It got very Gone Girl towards the end, with the framing each other for murder and shit, I loved it! (hide spoiler)] This is definitely one of my new favorite thrillers! Thank you so much to Book of the Month for sending me a copy as one of their September selections!...more
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