rachelmerrie's reviews
373 reviews

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love John Green’s writing and I love the perspective of OCD/OCPD. Only concern I have is I feel like Green is unaware that teenagers aren’t as articulate as he always portrays them to be. 
We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets

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challenging emotional funny informative reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It did what it was supposed to. I received slightly more insight into the lives/minds of social media moderators. 
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

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

2.0

I think I’m burnt out on romcoms with an aggressive amount of sex/masturbating. 
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Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey

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

4.0

Very relatable, though the Harry Styles bit was strange. 
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The writing was good (as per usual with TJR) and the purpose was engaging, but imo it was an overall fairly boring story. I loved the ending though. 
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This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was so incredibly powerful and necessary. I will absolutely be buying the physical copy to re-absorb and annotate it. 
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Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry

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adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’m not one for poetry, but this middle grade was a good introduction. I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed it as much if I didn’t listen to the audio book. I just don’t like the spacing that comes with poetry. The story was engaging and the characters were diverse. I enjoyed it.
Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen

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

4.0

Held my interest and was an above average story. 
A Very Merry Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

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challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense 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

3.5

I’m biased because I love this series. This was my least favorite of the series because there were hardly any scene with the actual book club, which was my favorite part of the others. I enjoyed reading about what the men discussed in their club and how to work through gender roles and expectations. This book really had none of that, if anything it encouraged gender roles. Additionally, any time the book club tried to give the main male character advice, it didn’t really go anywhere. I wasn’t a fan of how they immediately fell for each other then abruptly got engaged at the end in the midst of an argument. 

Overall, the writing is great and keeps me engaged. I love the characters and their development and the ties from past books. 
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Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I love the idea, but I didn’t feel there was much of a purpose or even closure in any of the stories. The only character I liked was Kumi. I listened to the audio book then read certain parts in the physical copy because I was often confused who was who and what “clang-dong” meant. Maybe I should’ve read it, not listened to it, to absorb it better.