bayleereads's reviews
144 reviews

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

All. The. Stars!!!!! I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! In my opinion, the hype is SO worth it and I totally understand why this book has taken over bookstagram. Nate and Stassie are the cutest couple EVER and I loved every moment reading about them. Y'all know I *hate* the miscommunication trope, so imagine my surprise when I found NO miscommunication anywhere in this book. Seriously-- these people know how to regulate and express their emotions in a healthy way! Also the smut in this book??? DIVINE. I loved the subtle LGBTQ+ representation AND the disability representation! It's not often we get to see a sidekick in a wheelchair-- ESPECIALLY in a SPORTS romance! Seriously I'm screaming from the roof tops how much I love this book. Even though the epilogue contains one of my least favorite tropes, I still adored it because it fit Nate and Stassie so well! Favorite read of 2023 so far! OH AND-- screw you, Aaron.

Content Warnings

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm seemingly the last person on earth that hadn't read this one yet, but I finally got around to it, and I'm so glad I did! I really liked following Daisy & the Six, and their odd dynamic as they try to work together. I always adore strong female characters, so I loved getting to read about Daisy, Karen, and Camilla (ESPECIALLY Camilla). Even though this was a great read, it is HEAVY and deals with a lot of heavy topics such as addiction, cheating, and abortion. I wasn't a huge fan of the script-like/interview style writing in all honesty, and there were a LOT of characters to keep up with (I'm still not entirely sure who Warren and Pete were or what they added to the story???) Overall it was a great story and I look forward to watching the series :)

Content Warnings

How Y'All Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived by Leslie Jordan

Go to review page

funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.5

It's strange to read about the life of someone shortly after they pass and learn so much about them that you didn't know before. I'm happy that I was able to learn more about Leslie Jordan, as I did not know much about him or his life. This book has some great reminders about authenticity, kindness, and loving the life you've been given. I enjoyed Leslie sharing stories about his southern upbringing and much more. It sounds weird, but I love the way he talked! He was so hilarious, humble and had a heart of gold. This book seemed scattered and the stories were not arranged in an order that I understood. I also found myself uninterested in some of the stories and realized I wasn't paying attention. Overall, if you loved Leslie Jordan, you'll love this book-- especially the audiobook with his narration :)

Content Warnings

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My first 5⭐️ read of 2023! This book told such an amazing story, the characters were diverse and loveable, it was sexy, and it dealt with a lot of bigger themes that aren't talked about a lot in romance novels. As someone who has dealt with chronic migraines for nearly ten years, I was blown away by how migraines were portrayed in this book. I related SO much to Eva and her chronic pain. Second-chance romance is one of my favorite tropes, so to see these two high school lovers fall for each other again was just lovely. I cried, I laughed, I gasped... I just loved everything about this book! Eva and Shane deserve the entire world, regardless of how messy and dysfunctional they are. I will recommend this book until the day I die!!!

Content Warnings

The Score by Elle Kennedy

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I will not apologize for being in my hockey romance era 🥰 Just like the first two books in this series, I ADORED this book! First of all, I LOVE Allie. She’s a lot like me— being relationship oriented, having an overwhelming love for her friends, and prioritizing her future. Dean— my god, Dean. I STRONGLY disliked him in the first two books and even at the beginning of this one he gave me the ICK… the sexism & misogyny he radiated was 🤢 BUT I fell in love with him as he fell in love with Allie. I loved the deeper themes in this book— especially the plot about grief + healing. Although we saw Dean grow in his personal life, I would’ve liked to have seen him grow out of his offensive views towards women. Yeah, Allie changed his views somewhat. But we didn’t really get to see him on the other side of his objectifying views.

Content Warnings

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

I listened to this on audio and I thought it was fairly good. It was incredibly informative on a case I knew nothing about. I enjoyed getting to know the victim and the perpetrator and what led all of these circumstances. This story is important for everyone to read because of the real lessons it teaches-- no one should be harmed for who they are, and one dumb, mindless decision can severely impact the lives of many people. There were some disconnects for me: 1) The author didn't focus a ton on the main people involved (Sasha + Richard), and rather focused a lot on people connected to Sasha and Richard in other ways, and it made the timeline and story confusing. 2) This book reads like a bunch of newspaper articles strung together... which is... blah. While it wasn't the most enjoyable read, it was super informative and I do recommend it those who haven't heard of Sasha's story.

Content Warnings

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Be still my heart... this was such a beautiful book. Despite the content being very heavy and depressing, it was still somewhat hopeful and inspiring. Rachel, our FMC, is a force to be reckoned with and I loved every minute of her character. Her passion for family is so inspiring and it made me think about my own family and the lengths I would go to to protect them. Each child's story was different and lovely, all in their own ways. At times it seemed as though the story was too "easy." I understand the author wanted a *mostly* happy ending, but as much as I loved the reuniting between characters, I know this was not the case in the majority of real stories of the time. I also wanted more! I feel like each child could have had at least 100 pages written about them-- 336 pages wasn't enough for me!

Content Warnings

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

Go to review page

funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Calling all fans of Bridgerton-- this historical romance is for YOU! I loved this 19th century romance set in England. Our FMC, Annabelle, is such a badass woman for her time. I loved her and her friends, and the Duke of Montgomery is such a dreamy man (for the times). I liked how this book centered around the suffrage movement in England and the feminism of the time. For me, the steam was a bit relaxed, but I still enjoyed it! This didn't quite hit five stars for me because the Duke was verrryyy dramatic and misogynistic. I get it, it was the theme at that time, but damn-- this guy was an asshole! Especially to his brother! Overall it was a great read and I will be continuing the series!

Content Warnings

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Oh how I loved this book! Wallace and Hugo are probably some of the most loveable characters I've ever read about. The concept of this book is so unique, and as a spiritual person, I'd like to think something like Charon's Crossing is real-- that when we pass, we have time before truly crossing over. Nelson and Apollo pulled on my heart strings constantly. This didn't quite hit five stars for me because I predicted the ending about half-way through, and the beginning dragged for me... I didn't feel fully immersed until around page 100. I'm glad I stuck it out though because this story is so beautiful!

Content Warnings

Conversations with Birds by Priyanka Kumar

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.

This is the exact kind of book I should like, but it was not what I was expecting. This was supposed to be a book about birding and conservation, but it was more about the author's journey to birding. Which is fine-- but the synopsis and marketing should be different, as it seemed misleading. Of the chapters I did read, I struggled HARD with the writing. Every other sentence had a word I didn't know or understand. I felt like I needed a Ph.D. just to understand the descriptive words. Speaking of descriptive words-- how many different words do you need to use to describe the color green in ONE sentence?? This story was also very non-linear and didn't flow well at all for me. I had to DNF because I was actually getting frustrated reading this.

More...

bayleereads's reviews 144 reviews

bayleereads's reviews
144 reviews