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lanidon's reviews
1735 reviews
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
3.0
The dramatic irony stretches pretty thin here... I can't tell whether the author genuinely thought the end was some big reveal, but it seemed pretty obvious from the start. The length of the conversation explaining every single interaction in new context was exhausting and dropped the entire book down a star for me
The other less than stellar part was the mc. I liked her in some moments but in others she would get so ridiculously manic pixie dream girl that I'd have to take a break. Feeding your dog takeout food every night is not cute and quirky, it's borderline animal abuse. She tends to use people all the while acting like she's incapable of asking for help. She doesn't see others for the fully formed complex souls they are, but only how they fit in her life. She spends weeks with a guy and never once asks what he does for work....
The face blindness aspect was genuinely compelling. The concept of how it would impact an artist's view of the world is fascinating, but I simply don't feel like this character is an artist, at any point, before or after her prognosis. She doesn't have vision or imagination, she is simply copying exactly what her mother's style once was. When faced with the inability to do so, she doesn't stop and think of something new, some way to capture how her perspective has changed; she simply tries to find a way to fake it. She never even feels passionate about art itself, she only has drive to prove she can accomplish the act of painting. She doesn't want to create, she doesn't have something she wants to say with her art, she only ever desires 1) monetary gain 2) praise
Overall this book is fun, it's sweet, it has very charming moments, but it is in no way perfectly executed or completely satisfying
The other less than stellar part was the mc. I liked her in some moments but in others she would get so ridiculously manic pixie dream girl that I'd have to take a break. Feeding your dog takeout food every night is not cute and quirky, it's borderline animal abuse. She tends to use people all the while acting like she's incapable of asking for help. She doesn't see others for the fully formed complex souls they are, but only how they fit in her life. She spends weeks with a guy and never once asks what he does for work....
The face blindness aspect was genuinely compelling. The concept of how it would impact an artist's view of the world is fascinating, but I simply don't feel like this character is an artist, at any point, before or after her prognosis. She doesn't have vision or imagination, she is simply copying exactly what her mother's style once was. When faced with the inability to do so, she doesn't stop and think of something new, some way to capture how her perspective has changed; she simply tries to find a way to fake it. She never even feels passionate about art itself, she only has drive to prove she can accomplish the act of painting. She doesn't want to create, she doesn't have something she wants to say with her art, she only ever desires 1) monetary gain 2) praise
Overall this book is fun, it's sweet, it has very charming moments, but it is in no way perfectly executed or completely satisfying
The Men From Echo Creek by N.R. Walker
3.0
It's sweet, it's nice, it's just not much more. They meet, they have an instant magical connection, they have one conversation to confirm they're both gay, they kiss, they're together with no issues and very little discussion. It's a nice book but it's just easy with little depth
Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell
Did not finish book. Stopped at 1%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 1%.
I wasn't even five minutes in, I just didn't like the mc
The Deading by Nicholas Belardes
Did not finish book. Stopped at 4%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 4%.
I already hate climate horror so I really shouldn't have even tried, but the blurb doesn't mention it's climate based. The writing flips back and forth between annoying YA and then like research paper speak, no girl
Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland
Did not finish book. Stopped at 9%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 9%.
Life is too short to push through and hope things get better
It feels like I'm trapped at a bar with the most insufferable drunk men jokingly bickering and telling dick jokes. It's very difficult to write a truly funny book that also balances enough emotion or meaning to carry the story, this didn't do it for me. It is also genuinely 90% dialogue with very little prose, which is not a style I get down with
It feels like I'm trapped at a bar with the most insufferable drunk men jokingly bickering and telling dick jokes. It's very difficult to write a truly funny book that also balances enough emotion or meaning to carry the story, this didn't do it for me. It is also genuinely 90% dialogue with very little prose, which is not a style I get down with
The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin
5.0
I don't really have words. An incredibly moving and gripping story, told in a mix of current struggle for survival and reverie of past joy and mistakes. I haven't seen the movie yet but the book really is something special
The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde
3.0
This is fun, I never thought about dropping it, but it's sloppy... The world building, the characters, the plot, the romance, sloppy sloppy sloppy. So much of it crumbles if you think a second too hard about it. I never felt immersed in the world because it didn't feel atmospheric or real.
A lot of the book is very gritty but it's not grounded enough to land. We're at the tail end of a world war, but I didn't feel the impact of that. We're just told again and again that people are starving, they can't afford healthcare, they have to carefully plan a route through rubble, technology has all but collapsed. It never feels significant to the story because it is never shown as having impact, it's all told to us in past tense, meanwhile in the present everything is solved with money or magic. I think the book wouldn't been the same if it were a classic urban fantasy without this war.
Also how in the world did everyone agree to call sentient non humans "monsters" as the one and only description of the group. Monsters is on the official treaty document. Monsters is what they call themselves. Monsters is the political and cultural default term. How would that ever happen. It kept tripping me up. It sounds like a slur, this world has all the same folktale and cultural connotations of the word monster, yet that is somehow wholly accepted as an okay things to call them
Anyway, it's a fine book, fast easy read. I might read the sequel if it finds it's way back to me, but I won't seek it out
A lot of the book is very gritty but it's not grounded enough to land. We're at the tail end of a world war, but I didn't feel the impact of that. We're just told again and again that people are starving, they can't afford healthcare, they have to carefully plan a route through rubble, technology has all but collapsed. It never feels significant to the story because it is never shown as having impact, it's all told to us in past tense, meanwhile in the present everything is solved with money or magic. I think the book wouldn't been the same if it were a classic urban fantasy without this war.
Also how in the world did everyone agree to call sentient non humans "monsters" as the one and only description of the group. Monsters is on the official treaty document. Monsters is what they call themselves. Monsters is the political and cultural default term. How would that ever happen. It kept tripping me up. It sounds like a slur, this world has all the same folktale and cultural connotations of the word monster, yet that is somehow wholly accepted as an okay things to call them
Anyway, it's a fine book, fast easy read. I might read the sequel if it finds it's way back to me, but I won't seek it out
Midnight Rooms by Donyae Coles
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
I felt like nothing was happening and the main character is even flatter than cardboard. She feels like she has no thoughts or emotions or personality of her own, she's just waiting for forces to act upon her
The Fine Print by Lauren Asher
2.0
DNF @ 49%
Shallow characters, instant sexual attraction which is arguably more annoying than instalove. The guy crosses sexual harassment boundaries multiple times but it's okay because she likes it; no she never tells him she likes it, he just knows so it's okay he continues.
Shallow characters, instant sexual attraction which is arguably more annoying than instalove. The guy crosses sexual harassment boundaries multiple times but it's okay because she likes it; no she never tells him she likes it, he just knows so it's okay he continues.