Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

4 reviews

lizzie_b99's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

4.5

I really enjoyed this! The writing is light and funny but occasionally deep as it dives into the charcters' deepest insecurities. The audio book is really well done - I found myself laughing at multiple points. 

The novel is a mix of contemporary day in the life, enemies to lovers romance, and navigating complicated family issues. Waxman mixes all of these almost effortlessly. 

I did find the ending a bit abrupt, but I think it also fits in with the day in the life novel style. We see Nina's life day to day, so
it makes sense that the ending wouldn't be drawn out or look far into the future or that all the issues in the family would be magically resolved. I still would've liked an epilogue, though. And it would've been nice if the letter delivery portion of the novel took up more space. I'm curious what the other ones said and how everyone reacted.
But hey, if the biggest critique I can make about a book is that it left me wanting to learn more about the characters and world, that's a good book and good writing. 
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easypeasy17's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I really wanted to like this book! I had been excited to read it for the past few years and the beginning started out great. However, as the book goes on I just got frustrated. It really felt the the characters were all one-dimensional caricatures. And then Nina, the main character, meets her extended family. This gave the author a great opportunity to explore this experience, but she just made the characters the same.
Everyone in her family is a massive reader. When she meets her brother, he also has anxiety. And when she meets her niece, she also likes random facts.
It was like the author thought that just because you are related, you have to have identical interests.

There were also moments where I thought there were some problematic elements. The main character has anxiety.
At one point she has a panic attack and the love interest helps her get home. He also makes her tea and does some other stuff while she’s in the bathroom. Once she emerges from the bathroom, she tells the love interest that she needs to be alone in order to process her anxiety. He proceeds to then not leave her alone and persistently asks her if he can stay and tells her that he just wants to take care of her. SIR, the best thing you could do to take care of her is to listen to what she is telling you she needs right now. She’s not telling you to leave her forever, just that she needs to process this experience. I was so annoyed! Then at the end of the book, NINA is the one who apologizes for that event. The love interest is the one that should be apologizing. And he proceeds to describe her panic attack as a “freak out” and says, “I don’t want to be with someone who’s ready to throw me under the bus every time she loses her composure.”  This is just such a dismissive portrayal of anxiety!
Lastly, there were jokes throughout that were meant to be witty but they read to me as problematic which then took me out of the story. I was so disappointed by this story.
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katielaine_w's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.75

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midnightbelles's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-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

It was a decent read. I had trouble getting into it and almost didn’t finish but, once I sat down and read more I finished quickly. (Less than 5 hrs total) It’s basically a rom com, some parts were really boring to read especially at the beginning. I probably won’t read this again but it was a cute, quick read overall. 
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