ikandree's reviews
283 reviews

I read this 35+ years ago and I remember absolutely loving it.  This was the first book that I loved so much I stayed up all night reading.  This, I believe, is the book that started my move of apocalyptic books.

That is why, with a heavy heart, I lower my 5 ⭐️ rating to a 4, maybe even a 3.5 ⭐️.

This book was pretentious, long winded, and made me scratch my head more than once.  It follows 2 women after a nuclear war that essentially ends life on Earth, or the northern hemisphere at least.  Their huge, pressing concern is...saving books.  As an avid reader, I can understand loving books and not wanting to see them desecrated, burned, or banned, but the world ends and that is your concern?  That becomes your life mission? I guess that they needed something to feel purposeful instead of just surviving.  It also feels like the author found a thesaurus to save and went to town.  I would HIGHLY recommend reading this on Kindle where a dictionary is readily available.  

Further, there are Christian themes and plot lines throughout the book.  The author does not hide their superiority in disregarding such notions, even if those Christian themes are extreme and not stereotypically "normal." I absolutely do not feel that religion needs to be confirmed nor denied, but the implications of Christians being unintelligent could not be overlooked.  

After writing this review, I have lowered the rating to 3⭐️.  It was a simply okay book.

3⭐️

Caregiver goes to care for a disabled stroke victim who was accused many decades earlier of the brutal murders of her family.

I thought about giving this a lower rating, but the truth is that I couldn't stop reading.  But by the end, my thoughts were "what the hell did I just read?" The plot was interesting and there wasn't really a lag in the action.  Several of the twists were pretty easy to figure out, blaring inconsistencies which scream plot twists.  And boy were there plot twists.  Like dozens of them that just keep coming and coming all within the same chapter.  Some were doozies and some were...completely farfetched.  There is one key twist where the dates and ages simply make zero sense.  Like ZERO.  And none of the characters were likable.  Not only were they boring but also very stereotypical.  Down on their luck protagonist.  Hot gardener (I kid you not). Uptight housekeeper.

It seems that people either love or hate Riley Sager.  Not a good first impression.

3 ⭐️

This book takes place in the 1960s and is about a girl who gets pregnant and she is sent away to a "home for unwed mothers."

The story is good.  Not great, not awful.  Completely forgettable if I'm being honest.  The main character is determined but very one sided, quite naive, and not very interesting.  The plot is...fine. Nothing stood out, no great twist, but not necessarily boring.  A very quick and easy read.

5 ⭐️

I thought for sure this was a solid 4-4.5⭐️ and then the ending! The twist! I feel that very few authors are able to stick the landing, but this one delivered.

This story is told through 3 different POVs, during a time of a deadly and aggressive pandemic, and takes place on a snowy mountainside. There is a lot of "whodunit" and survival. This has a fast-paced plot that, I feel, did not have any break in the action. Even though this is definitely plot-driven, the character development is there. It is not always linear, but it works.

I DNFd this at 43%.  

I wanted to like this book. (But do we ever pick a book not wanting to like it?) A story set in 1720 about Parisian women prisoners being sent to Louisiana to become wives sounds intriguing.  This wasn't that.  The story moved very slowly and was mainly character driven. Problem was that we didn't stay with one character enough to like or care about them.  Their backgrounds and plot weren't linear so it was difficult to care. The POV kept changing so by the time we understood a character, their time was over.

And this might just be a me thing, but there were so many French names, words, and phrases, that I spent a majority of my time trying to figure out what was being said.  If I had had a physical copy, I don't know if I would have made it 30%, but even on the Kindle, there were only so much it could do.

4 ⭐️

Most people know him as the Fonz.  And that was certainly his first big break. However, he studied at the Yale School of Drama. He is an author. An Emmy award winning actor. An advocate for children and adults with learning disabilities.

This book was narrated by Henry Winkler and he is just as adorable as you might imagine.  His tales of being the child of Jewish German parents who fled to the US before WWII are both funny and heartbreaking.  He tells of his early days of acting, and how reading a script was quite difficult given his severe dyslexia.  His narration and stories are both warm and touching.

As with all memoirs, it is difficult to rate a book simply based on the narrative.  I gave this 4 ⭐️ bc the story was mostly linear but was at time difficult to follow.  And he name dropped all the time.  I am sure if one is in the movie and TV business those names would make sense, but to the average reader, those names meant nothing to me.  And he said ALOT of names.  Overall, I enjoyed listening and found his story quite enjoyable.

4 ⭐️

This book is a mystery about a murder of a teenage boy in a small town in Alaska.  The suspects are, well, pretty much anyone in the town, or the neighboring Colony, a vampyr settlement (that's how they spelled it). A detective from out of town comes to investigate and hijinks ensues.

This book was atmospheric and fast paced.  I didn't feel that there was any real laggy parts. It mixed present day with past explanations quite well, giving enough detail in the moment to move the story along and then laying everything out when necessary.  Everyone was a suspect at one point, I think.  I absolutely did not guess the ending or see the other twists coming.  The characters were well thought out and development was great.

I wish I had read this during the winter to add to the effect! 

3 ⭐️ 

This book was a quick and easy read.  I started it last night and finished it this afternoon.  There is absolutely nothing twisty or too deep about this story.

The story is set in the future where climate change has caused near constant record heat, diminished foliage, and extinct species, yet there are cameras and technology everywhere.  A woman sells her face (superficial changes) to a tech company to develop better face recognition software.  She uses her compensation to take her family to the Botanical Gardens for a few days where there are trees, fresh air, and wildlife, but she insists that they leave their technology at home.  Her children get lost at the Botanical Gardens, hi-jinx ensue and the kids are found.  After, she is deemed a terrible mother by the world, through social media, and CPS is called.

Yep, that is the whole plot.  The characters were slightly annoying and forgettable. The technology mentioned is vague but you can piece it together, except for something called a "woom" which is central to the story but is never explained. Overall, this had amazing potential but fell completely flat.

3.5 ⭐️

I enjoyed this book very much overall.  It is action packed, right from the start, and because of this is a quick read.  I don't know if this book is considered YA, I would most definitely put it in this category.  There is no swearing (close, but not actually) and no spice.  There is a bit of a romance brewing but it is quite G rated.

While this book was entertaining, it reminded me of Hunger Games or Divergent.  A teenager from a lower caste is trying create justice by beating the powers that be at their own game, discovering their secrets and exposing them so good will overcome.  It lacked any real substance was simply a very good story. The book was plot driven and there was a large cast of characters.  For me, it was a bit difficult to keep track of who was who, especially when they had similar names (ie Titus and Tactus), let alone which House they came from.

Tl;DR - This book is great if want to pass the time and be entertained.