maggies's reviews
578 reviews

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

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adventurous emotional lighthearted 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? No

5.0

Nods to some great romantic movies—including Just Like Heaven, The Princess Bride, and He's Just Not That Into You—made this book absolute catnip to me. I loved it and got exactly the ending it deserved. An easy listen, sufficiently cheesy and emotional.
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Acting the Part by Z.R. Ellor

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emotional hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I really struggled with this one—the narration was good, but I never connected with the main character or their journey, and the plot of the television show was hard to follow. It was decidedly meh, and I won't be seeking out this author again.
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Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

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adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-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? No

3.0

A light, fun, slightly spooky romance. I loved Cassie learning to appreciate the ghosts and I came around to Cassie and Nick's relationship, but it definitely moved faster than I normally like. Unfortunately, I also was taken aback by the reveal about Cassie's
infertility
.
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Bad Graces by Kyrie McCauley

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Bad Graces is fantastic in every sense, and I loved it. Creepy and horrifying but magical and uplifting. Super fast-paced. Every revelation felt like a gut punch. I'm not a Greek mythology buff, but what references I understood were pitch perfect. The theme of healing and growing and changing was so well executed. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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Veronica by Mary Gaitskill

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challenging sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

*Read as part of my challenge to (attempt to) read all 100 of NYT's best books of the 21st century*

This book was readable, but it didn't feel as though much happened. It was mostly a reflection on a harsh life, with visceral analogies that sometimes grossed me out. The narration kept me listening.
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Secrets and Masks by Emerald_Slytherin

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Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is not a fun book. It took me significantly longer than usual to finish it because I never looked forward to reading it. And yet I think it may be among the best books I'll read this year. I was consistently angry while reading, but as Tina explained to her patient at the conference, sometimes anger is justified. Misogyny and bigotry cost us so much, and my heart broke over and over for Tina, Ruth, Rebecca, Pamela, and all the sorority sisters. Such a well written and important story.
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The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

I'm not a second-chance-romance fan, nor particularly interested in food or wine, but I am a Casey McQuiston fan, and I am particularly drawn to juicy characters, and this book was all that. From the beginning, I was so intrigued by Kit and Theo and what it would be like to love the same person your whole life. For history to repeat itself and play tricks on us. They broke my heart and stitched it back up again and I'll be thinking about them for a while, I'm sure.
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The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

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challenging funny fast-paced

3.0

*Read as part of my challenge to (attempt to) read all 100 of NYT's best books of the 21st century*

I can understand why this book was included in the list—it's unflinching and touching and informative. Sometimes I had a hard time following the story, but I enjoyed it overall, especially learning about a time and place and people I'm not particularly familiar with.
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The Siren by Katherine St. John

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challenging mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I didn’t find this as thrilling as I expected, but it had its moments. Overall it was a bit too exaggerated and dramatic and character motivations/actions sometimes didn’t make sense to me. On the other hand, the mystery and connections between the characters were interesting to tease out through the course of the book. #MeToo rep but it was pretty graphic at times.
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