sarah2438's reviews
1046 reviews

Unfortunately this one just wasn't a standout. It was a pretty similar trope with each story, and while I think it's cool that they had a different audiobook narrator for each chapter, the narrators were very hit and miss.

I don't care about these characters at all and I think the cheating trope is disgusting. If you cheat on your partner, even if it's for your childhood soulmate, you still suck. And no amount of villainizing a beautiful, career-driven woman is going to change my mind.

This was ridiculous but I think I'm into it? The banter and the chaotic murders were fun. The pacing sometimes lagged between their games, the smut was a bit much for me, and we kinda forgot about the murder plot once the smut started, but still a good time. Good chance I read the next one.

Just like the first one, it's hard to say I enjoyed it because it's so dark. But I would really recommend this duology. The first book could be read as a standalone without any significant cliffhangers, but this is where Olamina's character really grows in complexity. I was apprehensive about our other narrator at first but I think the foreshadowing really gave something to pull us through when things were getting bleak. (Because, of course, this world couldn't be the happily ever after that the first book ends with.) I struggled a bit with the pacing about halfway through but pushed through and read the second half in a day. Beware though, these books are VERY intense and depressing and have a lot of really dark themes.

Super cute, which is a nice surprise after I really wasn't a fan of Seven Year Slip. This one was ALSO very predictable but I didn't mind it as much here, except for the 3rd act miscommunication (why tho?). It's more melancholy than anything and felt very early-fall, even though I'm still in deep denial that summer won't last forever. I'd recommend.

Did I like this? Not really. Was it entertaining? Somewhat.
Blake Crouch is not a great author for me, but that hasn't stopped me from reading each new book he puts out there. This book especially felt like the Colleen Hoover of sci-fi. It was fast and got the job done but maybe don't think too hard about the quality.
Crouch had me at for the first third or so. It was fun. But the problem is that our MC just gets more and more insufferable as the book goes on, until I was basically laughing at everything he said at the end. Logan has an inferiority complex because his mother was a genius, so as he starts to become a genius, he makes a BIG point of showing us how super smart and special he is. It just reminds me of that insufferable guy that no one wants to talk to because he's just so confident he's better than everyone else in the room.
The actual conflict of the book was intriguing enough but not so much the execution. My interest was piqued again when we got to the city in Montana, but took a sharp decline immediately after, which it never recovered from. For better or for worse, the climax of the novel really gave Michael Bay vibes. Crouch clearly wants a movie adaptation with all of these dramatic explosions and running and climbing, and I'm probably in the minority when I say this, but that was so damn boring to read. I was listening to that part on audio and was tempted to skim through the entire chapter.
Overall, it was fine. Would I recommend it? Not particularly. But reading Crouch's books are my attempt at showing I can read both sci-fi and male authors. This is not the last I'll read from him. 

I listened to this as an audiobook and I think that may have been the wrong move. The language is very poetic but the time and location jumps started to get confusing and I'm positive that I missed things. I think this is something I would need to re-read as a physical copy to get a better grasp on what's happening.

Nino Cipri just doesn't miss. None of these short stories were bad, and that's high praise coming from someone who REALLY struggles to like short stories. There were several that were a strong 4 stars. Excited to see what else they write.

Being completely honest, I did not love this memoir, so I will not be sharing my rating publicly because I don't like the idea of rating someone's life story. With that said, I think we can separate the writing from what is written, and the writing of the memoir is VERY juvenile. It supports what Britney says about reverting to childish behaviors sometimes because she was moved to an adult role so fast, but it still almost feels like I'm reading a middle schooler's diary, rather than the memoir of an adult woman. Similarly, I think the depth of reflection and attention to detail is also lacking. The memoir is just so short. Sometimes we skim over months and even years in just a few pages. It's so awful that Britney experienced these things and has such a difficult life. But I think that her introspection and internal healing process is just beginning, and that makes it difficult to really reflect. Matthew Perry's memoir, which I recently read as well, is also very short but manages to show a lot more depth as he describes his struggle with substance abuse. (Not trying to really compare here, just wanting to make a point that memoirs can be short and still thorough.) Overall, I think it is a worthwhile read if you're interested, you may want to manage your expectations.

Melissa was so obsessed with this that she literally bought it for me on Kindle and demanded I read it. Despite my MONUMENTAL reading slump, I started that night and I think it helped pull me through. Not sure if it was the book or the slump but I found it a little slow at the start. Once the romance really started, though, I was into it. I really appreciate that the core conflict wasn't a miscommunication trope, and I also really loved the way Soto wrote about music. No music knowledge necessary to understand what's going on and feel the passion of the songs. It may be a bit corny at times but not overly so, and I don't hold that against a romance.