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bayleyreadsbooks's Reviews (530)
I’ll write a review once I stop crying. No other book has made me cry this much or this often. It was so consistent with its making me cry.
Far From the Tree follows three siblings who have all been (for lack of being able to find better language) put up for adoption by their mother. Grace is a teen who has just had a baby she is choosing to let a couple adopt, Maya is the youngest of the three and has a family that loves her but is on the verge of crumbling under their own secrets, and Joaquin is the oldest who is still in the foster system, he is dealing with major self-esteem issues compounded by the ways he has experienced the world in the past.
So right from hearing the pitch for this book, I knew I would love it. I also knew it would make me sad, which is maybe why I didn't pick it up right away, which I now see was obviously a mistake. In my defense, I did buy the book right away.
I love family books. I obviously like a good found family story, but I really love a substantial exploration about the ways in which you are similar and different to your family. I also am interested in the exploration of the secrets and insular nature of the family. This book explores one family that is some ways are four families.
I really connected to each of the families in very different ways. Grace's family is pretty stable and supportive on the surface, but there are some deep-rooted issues that she does not ever know how to resolve. Maya's family has obvious glaring problems but are massively talented at keeping their own secrets. And Joaquin's family is complicated but rapidly approaching stability.
I love all the different family's this book is able to talk about. The story centers on three siblings who were put up for adoption in quick succession. The catalyst for them all meeting is when the eldest girl has a baby at 16 and decides to let her baby be adopted.
This book is full of mystery and tension and secrets. It explores family, race, gender, belonging, and the importance of feeling stable somewhere in the world. I cannot find the correct expression of my love for this book.
I really loved that I was so emotionally invested in this novel that I did not try to dissect it while reading, this was the now rare for me experience of being totally and utterly swept into a story in such a way that my brain unable to forget that I am being told a story. It is also the book that had made me cry the most consistently throughout the whole novel. It felt like almost every chapter (maybe 1-3) I was crying at least once. Real crying, not single tearing it, but I wasn't sobbing either. This book was just very consistent with its ability to get an emotional response from me. And I didn't find this exhausting or overwhelming; I was so happy I was so genuinely interested in this book.
Far From the Tree follows three siblings who have all been (for lack of being able to find better language) put up for adoption by their mother. Grace is a teen who has just had a baby she is choosing to let a couple adopt, Maya is the youngest of the three and has a family that loves her but is on the verge of crumbling under their own secrets, and Joaquin is the oldest who is still in the foster system, he is dealing with major self-esteem issues compounded by the ways he has experienced the world in the past.
So right from hearing the pitch for this book, I knew I would love it. I also knew it would make me sad, which is maybe why I didn't pick it up right away, which I now see was obviously a mistake. In my defense, I did buy the book right away.
I love family books. I obviously like a good found family story, but I really love a substantial exploration about the ways in which you are similar and different to your family. I also am interested in the exploration of the secrets and insular nature of the family. This book explores one family that is some ways are four families.
I really connected to each of the families in very different ways. Grace's family is pretty stable and supportive on the surface, but there are some deep-rooted issues that she does not ever know how to resolve. Maya's family has obvious glaring problems but are massively talented at keeping their own secrets. And Joaquin's family is complicated but rapidly approaching stability.
I love all the different family's this book is able to talk about. The story centers on three siblings who were put up for adoption in quick succession. The catalyst for them all meeting is when the eldest girl has a baby at 16 and decides to let her baby be adopted.
This book is full of mystery and tension and secrets. It explores family, race, gender, belonging, and the importance of feeling stable somewhere in the world. I cannot find the correct expression of my love for this book.
I really loved that I was so emotionally invested in this novel that I did not try to dissect it while reading, this was the now rare for me experience of being totally and utterly swept into a story in such a way that my brain unable to forget that I am being told a story. It is also the book that had made me cry the most consistently throughout the whole novel. It felt like almost every chapter (maybe 1-3) I was crying at least once. Real crying, not single tearing it, but I wasn't sobbing either. This book was just very consistent with its ability to get an emotional response from me. And I didn't find this exhausting or overwhelming; I was so happy I was so genuinely interested in this book.
Cast Long Shadows
So the ending made me cry. I will never not be an absolute sucker for Jem and his friendship with Will.
I am properly sucked into The Last Hours now. I hope I have picked the correct name of the series that come out next. I am so interested to see the ways in which Mathews sins cast shadows upon that series. I was so sad for his inability to talk to others and also found this origin story compelling. And also I would kill for Henry still. He is the perfect scatterbrained doting husband.
Every Exquisite Thing
Thought I wasn’t going to cry than that ending jumped in here and made me cryyyyy.
I am getting so excited for the next series. I cannot wait to spend more time with the queer badass that is Anna Lightwood. I want her to find happiness outside her family. I am so excited to read a Shadowhunter series where the parents are good parents. And around generally.
This short story was romantic and sad and so about family and belonging. So it was right up my alley. The genderqueer lesbian is a cherry on top.
Learn About Loss
I am so sad. In the happy-sad way. If you are a Jem and Will kinda person then you have to read this and be very sad with me. I don’t want to state the obvious but this friendship is so sweet and meaningful and I cannot bear the sadness and wonder of this friendship.
We also get to spend a significant amount of time with Sister Emilia, an Iron Sister in training. And she is truest delightful.
I’m going to go cry then read the next story.
A Deeper Love
High-quality Tessa Jem angst. Set in London during an air raid in WW2. We have information reiterated about the lost Herondales. Which obviously makes me want the last series very much.
The Wicked Ones
Well. I have most certainly cried again. Tessa and Jem feels. They will get you every time.
I really liked knowing more about Celine’s life. Hearing her thought process. She now seems much less stupid and sweet and much more incredibly manipulated and self-flagellating. And she was so close to an ending that could have been happy, but then we would have no books.
Son of the Dawn
Oh! More crying. Not as hard but still crying. I loved the Jem and Will connection. And I really loved seeing baby Jace post-trauma and pre thrust of his story. And baby Isabel being super unsure, and baby Alec already being sad.
The Land I Lost
I’m so happy we finally got the story of how Ace and Magnus adopted Rafe. This was the only sport so far that I forgot that this was a story about Jem for any amount of time. There was a part of the Jem and Tessa story that made me tear up, also I am deeply invested in the first heir stuff, but I properly cried because of Alec family feelings. It makes me want to skim through all the Shadowhunter books for the Alec and Magnus love story parts. I am especially in the mood to reread the wedding.
Through Blood, Through Fire
Good old fashion Tessa and Jem in a life-threatening situation dealing with BIG emotional questions. Super easy to guess about if I cried if not.
The Lost World
A massive glimpse into some of the chaos that the final Shadowhunter series shall be. I am beyond ready to get there. I think I’m going to literally be 30 when the last Shadowhunter book comes out.
Forever Fallen
Ohhhh. Almost didn’t make me cry. Then Jem and Tessa and Kit had a moment then Jem and Kit had another moment. And it got me.
I’m not entirely sure if this is my favorite of the three short story collections but it certainly might be. I really really love this one.
The collection is super cohesive, each story stands on its own as a single unit and also builds towards the next story and meshes with the books that came before they did. They also had me so excited for The Last Hours and then deepened my lamentation that The Wicked Powers is many years away. My heart is waiting to be shattered by all that is in store for that final series.
So the ending made me cry. I will never not be an absolute sucker for Jem and his friendship with Will.
I am properly sucked into The Last Hours now. I hope I have picked the correct name of the series that come out next. I am so interested to see the ways in which Mathews sins cast shadows upon that series. I was so sad for his inability to talk to others and also found this origin story compelling. And also I would kill for Henry still. He is the perfect scatterbrained doting husband.
Every Exquisite Thing
Thought I wasn’t going to cry than that ending jumped in here and made me cryyyyy.
I am getting so excited for the next series. I cannot wait to spend more time with the queer badass that is Anna Lightwood. I want her to find happiness outside her family. I am so excited to read a Shadowhunter series where the parents are good parents. And around generally.
This short story was romantic and sad and so about family and belonging. So it was right up my alley. The genderqueer lesbian is a cherry on top.
Learn About Loss
I am so sad. In the happy-sad way. If you are a Jem and Will kinda person then you have to read this and be very sad with me. I don’t want to state the obvious but this friendship is so sweet and meaningful and I cannot bear the sadness and wonder of this friendship.
We also get to spend a significant amount of time with Sister Emilia, an Iron Sister in training. And she is truest delightful.
I’m going to go cry then read the next story.
A Deeper Love
High-quality Tessa Jem angst. Set in London during an air raid in WW2. We have information reiterated about the lost Herondales. Which obviously makes me want the last series very much.
The Wicked Ones
Well. I have most certainly cried again. Tessa and Jem feels. They will get you every time.
I really liked knowing more about Celine’s life. Hearing her thought process. She now seems much less stupid and sweet and much more incredibly manipulated and self-flagellating. And she was so close to an ending that could have been happy, but then we would have no books.
Son of the Dawn
Oh! More crying. Not as hard but still crying. I loved the Jem and Will connection. And I really loved seeing baby Jace post-trauma and pre thrust of his story. And baby Isabel being super unsure, and baby Alec already being sad.
The Land I Lost
I’m so happy we finally got the story of how Ace and Magnus adopted Rafe. This was the only sport so far that I forgot that this was a story about Jem for any amount of time. There was a part of the Jem and Tessa story that made me tear up, also I am deeply invested in the first heir stuff, but I properly cried because of Alec family feelings. It makes me want to skim through all the Shadowhunter books for the Alec and Magnus love story parts. I am especially in the mood to reread the wedding.
Through Blood, Through Fire
Good old fashion Tessa and Jem in a life-threatening situation dealing with BIG emotional questions. Super easy to guess about if I cried if not.
The Lost World
A massive glimpse into some of the chaos that the final Shadowhunter series shall be. I am beyond ready to get there. I think I’m going to literally be 30 when the last Shadowhunter book comes out.
Forever Fallen
Ohhhh. Almost didn’t make me cry. Then Jem and Tessa and Kit had a moment then Jem and Kit had another moment. And it got me.
I’m not entirely sure if this is my favorite of the three short story collections but it certainly might be. I really really love this one.
The collection is super cohesive, each story stands on its own as a single unit and also builds towards the next story and meshes with the books that came before they did. They also had me so excited for The Last Hours and then deepened my lamentation that The Wicked Powers is many years away. My heart is waiting to be shattered by all that is in store for that final series.
The Storm Crow follows Thia, a Princess from Rhodaire, as she deals with the aftermath of her country being overtaken by a neighboring kingdom hell-bent on domination. She is thrown into statesmanship she is unprepared for while also trying to save her countries source of magic in the form of giant crows.
I am so ready for the next (and final) book in this series. I am in grave need for more crow based badassery.
There were a lot of wonderful things about this novel, and it breaks the mold of many YA fantasies with how it handles the Prince from a corrupt Kingdom meets our heroine.
I really loved our main character, Thia, she was such a wonderful guide through this fantastic (in both senses of the word) world. She has a massive trauma at the beginning of the book and is left physically and emotionally scarred by it. Thia's depression is handled deftly and without a magical "wow the fog of awfulness has lifted, turns out all I needed was love" type resolution. I love her journey of recognizing her own strength. Clearly, I was enamored.
I loved her sister, Caliza, I want more Caliza. Also, I want to meet her man. Seems like they might be cute together.
Ericen, the aforementioned Prince, was interesting. I intellectually appreciated the choice to not have him be the love interest, but also I liked him much more than the love interest? I am a sucker for a 'good rising out of darkness' type. Though I will admit I am not sure that is exactly what is here. Maybe it's just that he tried to impress a girl with baked goods.
Kiva! I cannot believe Kiva has come to my mind so far down the list. Kiva is Thia's best friend and bodyguard, and heir relationship is so wonderfully entwined into the story. A lot of times books will mention a best friend but she will sort of fade away as romance or plot happen to the main character. But Josephson does not commit that sin, she very much has Kiva be integral to the plot and the emotional journey. Also, I was way more interested in her romantic journey. Auma is a badass mysterious lady and I deeply hope she makes an appearance in book two.
Caylus, the love interest, is very David from the Grishaverse. I like David, I am totally fine with Caylus. He does have a totally different backstory to David, so maybe that comparison is a bit reductionist. I like him fine. And I like that he is a part of Josephson writing a story where the main character does not all in love with the first new boy who walks on the page.
I liked the diversity of this book. Peoples sexualities are not treated as a spectacle, they are an accepted part of peoples lives, and non-straight characters are talked about normally. I understand the importance of stories where LGBTQ characters are overcoming societies dismissal or torment, but it is also lovely to have a story where it is just normal. Also, not everyone is white! In fact, most of the main cast are not white! Congratulations on making a multicultural fantasy where everyone isn't white, please remind other authors they have this option.
The world-building was amazing. I want to go to visit Rodaire. I want to see a crow. If someone wants to movie/tv show this book (and the do it wonderfully) I am so ready to see this world. I really felt like the world around Thia breathed.
I didn't love some of the foreshadowing stuff. I thought the solution to hatching the egg was immediately obvious, and even more so when they did the test with iron. It is always annoying when you guess the solution so far ahead of when you should (in my opinion you should know TOPS ten pages before the main character unless there are extenuating circumstances). I also thought the big reveal at the end was not that big a reveal. It was awesome, but not surprising. I am very interested in what will happen with it in the next book. But I was pretty sure it was coming.
Again, I am tremendously interested in book two! I am glad duologies are around again and I am ready to be blown away by book two.
I am so ready for the next (and final) book in this series. I am in grave need for more crow based badassery.
There were a lot of wonderful things about this novel, and it breaks the mold of many YA fantasies with how it handles the Prince from a corrupt Kingdom meets our heroine.
I really loved our main character, Thia, she was such a wonderful guide through this fantastic (in both senses of the word) world. She has a massive trauma at the beginning of the book and is left physically and emotionally scarred by it. Thia's depression is handled deftly and without a magical "wow the fog of awfulness has lifted, turns out all I needed was love" type resolution. I love her journey of recognizing her own strength. Clearly, I was enamored.
I loved her sister, Caliza, I want more Caliza. Also, I want to meet her man. Seems like they might be cute together.
Ericen, the aforementioned Prince, was interesting. I intellectually appreciated the choice to not have him be the love interest, but also I liked him much more than the love interest? I am a sucker for a 'good rising out of darkness' type. Though I will admit I am not sure that is exactly what is here. Maybe it's just that he tried to impress a girl with baked goods.
Kiva! I cannot believe Kiva has come to my mind so far down the list. Kiva is Thia's best friend and bodyguard, and heir relationship is so wonderfully entwined into the story. A lot of times books will mention a best friend but she will sort of fade away as romance or plot happen to the main character. But Josephson does not commit that sin, she very much has Kiva be integral to the plot and the emotional journey. Also, I was way more interested in her romantic journey. Auma is a badass mysterious lady and I deeply hope she makes an appearance in book two.
Caylus, the love interest, is very David from the Grishaverse. I like David, I am totally fine with Caylus. He does have a totally different backstory to David, so maybe that comparison is a bit reductionist. I like him fine. And I like that he is a part of Josephson writing a story where the main character does not all in love with the first new boy who walks on the page.
I liked the diversity of this book. Peoples sexualities are not treated as a spectacle, they are an accepted part of peoples lives, and non-straight characters are talked about normally. I understand the importance of stories where LGBTQ characters are overcoming societies dismissal or torment, but it is also lovely to have a story where it is just normal. Also, not everyone is white! In fact, most of the main cast are not white! Congratulations on making a multicultural fantasy where everyone isn't white, please remind other authors they have this option.
The world-building was amazing. I want to go to visit Rodaire. I want to see a crow. If someone wants to movie/tv show this book (and the do it wonderfully) I am so ready to see this world. I really felt like the world around Thia breathed.
I didn't love some of the foreshadowing stuff. I thought the solution to hatching the egg was immediately obvious, and even more so when they did the test with iron. It is always annoying when you guess the solution so far ahead of when you should (in my opinion you should know TOPS ten pages before the main character unless there are extenuating circumstances). I also thought the big reveal at the end was not that big a reveal. It was awesome, but not surprising. I am very interested in what will happen with it in the next book. But I was pretty sure it was coming.
Again, I am tremendously interested in book two! I am glad duologies are around again and I am ready to be blown away by book two.
I am so excited to buy my finished copy of this book if preordering if your jam than 100% go and do that right about now.
This is the kind of memoir that makes me remember why my fantasy, science fiction, and YA farce loving self also sort of thinks non-fiction might be the best genre. When a true story, on any scale, is written well with a cohesive narrative, it completely kicks ass.
Sorted is a memoir following Jackson Birds life through the lens of gender. The narrative is so tight, funny, and informative without feeling unapproachable. We get a glimpse into many aspects of what it is like growing up trans, a Texan, a Harry Potter nerd, and the struggles of early adulthood.
Quick acknowledgment, I have been following Bird's online presence for quite some time. I started as an occasional Will it Waffle viewer and was probably aware of his youtube channel because I was deep into the Harry Potter side of the internet as soon as I was on the internet. I am a pretty regular viewer of his youtube content and am eagerly awaiting more of his podcast. I have been known to lightly trash talk some internet people turned authors. Despite that, I am delighted to have to eat crow on my assertion that I would no longer read internet peoples books (I am also dying to read Akilah Hughes' Obviously). I loved this book and genuinely think it is terrific.
I found this book incredibly relatable and assume that a wide array of people will agree with me here. I figured out towards the end of the book that his home town is about 20-30 minutes from where I lived for a few years as a small child. I related so hardcore to the annoyance of being perceived as a person much younger than you are. This book would have been worth it to read if only for learning that I am not the only person over 18 to have been carded for a PG-13 movie, he handled this with much more grace than I did. I also tend to love musings on early career building as a 20 something figuring out what to do with life.
The narrative of this book has small sections of more educational content on the trans or queer community that are clearly delineated and work really well with the narrative. I am not anywhere near an expert on gender, but I believe that the educational component will work well for people who have given gender no additional thought while still giving nods to people with an academic and/or personal focus. Something that I particularly loved was the pretty long list of further reading and watching at the end of the book. I am quite excited to dive into other books written by and about trans people.
What more could I ask for out of a memoir? Informative, funny, it made me cry once (a Harry Potter reason but it still counts), and I was so interested in how the story would progress. I think that people with all levels of familiarity with Bird will find this book completely accessible. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves narrative nonfiction, has an interest in learning more about trans experiences, or who was also a Harry Potter kid.
This is the kind of memoir that makes me remember why my fantasy, science fiction, and YA farce loving self also sort of thinks non-fiction might be the best genre. When a true story, on any scale, is written well with a cohesive narrative, it completely kicks ass.
Sorted is a memoir following Jackson Birds life through the lens of gender. The narrative is so tight, funny, and informative without feeling unapproachable. We get a glimpse into many aspects of what it is like growing up trans, a Texan, a Harry Potter nerd, and the struggles of early adulthood.
Quick acknowledgment, I have been following Bird's online presence for quite some time. I started as an occasional Will it Waffle viewer and was probably aware of his youtube channel because I was deep into the Harry Potter side of the internet as soon as I was on the internet. I am a pretty regular viewer of his youtube content and am eagerly awaiting more of his podcast. I have been known to lightly trash talk some internet people turned authors. Despite that, I am delighted to have to eat crow on my assertion that I would no longer read internet peoples books (I am also dying to read Akilah Hughes' Obviously). I loved this book and genuinely think it is terrific.
I found this book incredibly relatable and assume that a wide array of people will agree with me here. I figured out towards the end of the book that his home town is about 20-30 minutes from where I lived for a few years as a small child. I related so hardcore to the annoyance of being perceived as a person much younger than you are. This book would have been worth it to read if only for learning that I am not the only person over 18 to have been carded for a PG-13 movie, he handled this with much more grace than I did. I also tend to love musings on early career building as a 20 something figuring out what to do with life.
The narrative of this book has small sections of more educational content on the trans or queer community that are clearly delineated and work really well with the narrative. I am not anywhere near an expert on gender, but I believe that the educational component will work well for people who have given gender no additional thought while still giving nods to people with an academic and/or personal focus. Something that I particularly loved was the pretty long list of further reading and watching at the end of the book. I am quite excited to dive into other books written by and about trans people.
What more could I ask for out of a memoir? Informative, funny, it made me cry once (a Harry Potter reason but it still counts), and I was so interested in how the story would progress. I think that people with all levels of familiarity with Bird will find this book completely accessible. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves narrative nonfiction, has an interest in learning more about trans experiences, or who was also a Harry Potter kid.
I cannot believe that it has taken me this long to get to Coraline. I have been hearing about the book and movie for years, and something inspired me to take this book on my transatlantic flight.
Coraline is about a little girl named Coraline. She likes to explore and has recently moved house. Her exploration takes her into some interdimensional trouble.
I had a marvelous time reading this book. I was properly creeped out, and could not put it down until I had finished the whole story.
Coraline is about a little girl named Coraline. She likes to explore and has recently moved house. Her exploration takes her into some interdimensional trouble.
I had a marvelous time reading this book. I was properly creeped out, and could not put it down until I had finished the whole story.
ARC from NetGalley, all opinions are honest and mine!
First off, my Christine credentials! I have watched her videos on and off since 2012 probably. She was certainly in the first wave of booktube people I found out about and is at least in part responsible for shaping what I was reading at the time. I genuinely think that she seems like a great person, and I will continue my low-key viewer status. Just wanted to put this up here to head off any 'you don't dislike this book you just hate Christine!' type thoughts.
I was so so disappointed in this book. I went into it sure I would at least like it a decent amount. I low-key thought that the other reviews I was seeing were just people who wanted to hate it because they don't like Christine, or because they think she probably got an easy book deal. I thought worst-case scenario it's 3.5/4 stars because it is not excellent, but I still have fun with it.
I felt like I was perfectly primed to LOVE this book. I studied abroad in London when I was in college. I had flatmates that I thought were excellent people! We traveled around the city together and had the most amazing time. After classes, myself and nine other students city hopped until we were too poor to keep hopping. In London, there was a cute boy! And most importantly, I fell deeply in love with London. I was SOLD by this pitch.
I think that if I was sat down and given a spoiler-filled three minute summary of this story, I would probably still love the story. Unfortunately, the execution left so much to be desired.
If I had not wanted to finish this book so I could review it, I would have DNFed at Chapter 3. Then I wanted to again at 15%; then, I thought that I could justify a review with just 25%, the same thought at 50%. But I really don't like to DNF stuff. So I read the whole book. I did skim from about Part 2, Chapter 3, until about Chapter 21, then I read normally until the end.
I was not bothered by the similarities between Shane and Christine. Mostly because I am sure tons of writers, especially newer writers, do this, and we mostly never notice because we don't have access to a ton of information about them.
The Writing
The writing in this book was just so clunky. I continuously was pulled out of the story because something was phrased oddly, or it just felt slightly outlandish.
I didn't find sleep, but I did find the taxi line outside the airport, so here's to that.
I secure the bookbag high on my shoulder, grasp the carry-on in my front hand, and prepare to drag the suitcase behind me.
"Uh, actually I think that was pretty witty," he responds, using the male version of a valley-girl voice,
I was BAFFLED by the constant use of fashion as a verb. Do real people say this? That question popped into my mind over and over with almost all of the dialogue. It is so stilted and does not feel like a real human conversation.
I could tell what she was trying to do often; it was just the gap between intention and result was massive. I was not charmed by the characters, I was not interested in the plot, I was not sucked into the setting, and all of these problems are because this book is not written well. I completely believe that if Christine did not have the following, she did this book would not have been published. I feel a little harsh saying that, because I have positive feelings towards Christine, but that is truly how I feel about the writing.
Often times, the reader would enter the scene after a decent amount of action had taken place, so the scene would start with Shane recapping us. It would have been much more enjoyable if we had experienced the scene set up with Shane to some extent. There was a constant problem of telling not showing. It was also why the journaling bits didn't work very well for me. They were fine for character voice stuff, but they made the pacing drag and totally removed the interest I had in what was going on.
Also, I know this is an ARC, but MAN! This editor has a lot to do.
I just kept becoming more and more frustrated with how unprofessional the writing seemed.
The opening sentence of this book is fine. It is not great. It is not terrible. But this book calls out the importance of opening sentences three times, and it makes me think that I am meant to be mega impressed by “I’m leaving the country because I have no friends.” And the more I think I should be floored by it, the more I resent it.
The pop-culture references do not seem to help the book. They pull me out of the story and sometimes also make me cringe a little bit, even with references to things I like. EVEN TO HARRY POTTER.
This book just feels very inexpert, which is fine. I just do not believe this could have been published if they did not know it was going to sell regardless of quality. It reads like okay fan fiction. Nothing is fleshed out; the writing is so not tight; I just do not know how to process this book in the form I have encountered it.
If Christine writes a book in 5-10 years, I will totally check back in. She has the potential to write something good, more about that later, but she really needs more time to grow as a writer.
The Setting
This book could almost take place anywhere. She gives what amounts to shopping lists of landmarks and museums in a smattering of cities and occasionally points out small differences from the US, but I never felt a sense of place.
I have been to every location described with more than a sentence (I never went to Berlin, but that is just mentioned in passing). I have spent a significant amount of time in London, a little over a week in Paris, and a few days in Edinburgh and Rome. And if I had not already been to these places, I would still not have any sort of feel for them. My brain kept wanting to jump in and add prose to develop the setting because it was almost nonexistent. There were two sentences describing a street in London HALFWAY THROUGH THE BOOK that were getting close to what I wanted. I keep seeing people in reviews being like "total Anna and the French Kiss vibes" and no. Paris breathes in that book, London does not feel like it even has a pulse in Again, but Better.
As someone who has been to all of these places, it is so unrealistic the amount of stuff they are able to do in a day and that the price of some of this stuff doesn’t come up. I’m pretty sure a Paris Pass is almost 200$, so that seems like something that someone else wouldn’t get for you. And something that you would at least note the price.
It drove me absolutely bonkers that this book was just sort of listing places to go and things in them. I really got no sense of what these places are like at all. AND I HAVE BEEN TO THESE PLACES. There is no atmosphere at all in this book. Why would you want to read a book based on travel where you do not get a chance to fall in love with the places.
Something else that bothered me: the lack of language being an issue for anyone? Only Shane was mentioned to speak Italian; no one is said to speak French. Why do language barriers not come up? That is such a wonderful place to insert funny moments or some plot conflict; it also adds to the setting so much.
I was expecting someone who reads a blend of fantasy and contemporary to really understand how important world-building is to all genres.
The Plot
I often felt like I was just being told a series of events in a list and not like I was being told a cohesive story. This feeling was more intense in the first half of the novel and did get a tad better in the last few chapters.
The only part of the plot I was genuinely interested in was how horrible her family was. That did genuinely make me sad; her parents were straight-up monsters, especially her father.
Again, the idea for this book isn’t bad. The idea is sort of cute and fun. The pitch for this book totally sold me. I just don’t think that Riccio is really skilled enough to execute this book well.
I was not compelled by the romantic aspect of this plot. And this book was mostly the romantic segment.
Nothing about the romance felt natural; the conflict mostly felt haphazard and contrived. I was not sold by this at all.
The love confession bit was sort of cute. Also a little pathetic. But he has a SIX YEAR relationship with a girl going on. So it felt massively shitty of Pilot, the terribly named love-interest, to kiss Shane in Part Two, it would have been far more palatable in Part One. I kinda get being able to easily change your mind about a girl you have known for three months. But six years is a long time. I just feel like we know not much about Pilot’s thoughts, and if we did, they would probably make no sense.
I am of two minds about chapter 23.Do I think the gay cousin is a fleshed-out character? No. Do I hate the ‘gay kid teaches homophobic parents how to be accepting’ trope? Yes. (It didn’t go down that path, but you can see the first steps in the direction.) But despite that, I liked her having a real conversation with someone in her family. Most of her family are still semi-abusive garbage people. Her dad is straight-up verbally abusive. And her mom has absolutely no agency. And she is still mean.
Chapter 22 of Part 2 (I think) I mostly stopped skimming. This was really when the plot stopped focusing on Pilot so much, and turns out I like the book better without Pilot. This four-chapter stretch is what will probably bump my rating up to 2 stars for me. I wish I had really gotten to know and like Shane earlier in the book, it would have been delightful to have somewhat enjoyed the first 40 chapters.
The epilogue was horrible. Shane went from having a ton of problems left to solve to having magically fixed everything and being massively successful. The reader needs to see some of that emotional labor if I am supposed to give credit for wrapping those plot lines up like this. It felt very cheap and poorly thought out.
The Characters
Shane was a fine main character. I did not really care much about her at all until Chapter 21 of Part 2. I saw a ton of Christine in her, which isn't bad, but I just didn't really have strong positive or negative feelings about Shane throughout most of the book. I did hate that she kept being described as yelling things at times when it was so not appropriate to be yelling, but other characters did that as well. It was also through Shane that most of the jarring pop culture references were mentioned, and I clearly did not enjoy most of that.
Her friends are fine. They don't really have personalities and seem like tools just to push the romantic and family drama plots forward. Babe and Sahra are just kind of there. I especially felt Sahra was just there to ruin the family dinner situation by being uncharacteristically stupid.
I have seen a lot of shade about the names of everyone in this book. I was personally not at all bothered by any of the names except Pilot. Like the first episode of a tv show. I assume it was because he was their first kid. And his sister's names were so bland I cannot remember them. I hate this name. Also, I did not enjoy this character at all. Such a boring YA cool boy amalgamation character. He was not charming, and I was never really interested in him. This felt especially damning because I am a massive sucker for romance. Basically, every love-interest that is endgame works for me. You can’t just keep telling me he is smirking and that make me like him. He is too flaky and uninteresting.
They legit almost kiss before the reader has the time to know if they are into it? That was a character and a pacing problem! I also would not have gotten that they almost kissed if I was not told by Shane.
I hate how often our main characters tell us they are being clever. That does not make me think they are clever. That makes me think they are tweens.
So. Not. Charmed.
The parents have textbook abusive language. Pretty much, the only thing I am found interesting about this book is the terrible family subplot. And it was resolved so poorly. These people have a terribly dysfunctional family all around. And the straight-up yelling at your kid in public like that was terrible.
When she was adding drama to Babe's life by having her love interest be trash, I was rolling my eyes so hard. His characterization felt so forced and one-note. Why would this girl b friends with this terrible boy who is shown to have no redeeming qualities? And I keep rolling my eyes at “I like short girls” WHO TALKS LIKE THIS. As a short girl, I can tell you no one ever comes up and says, “ohhh, I like short girls” when they are being creepy/thinking they are complimenting me.
The way characters talk to each other is so juvenile. Christine’s voice would probably work better with a younger YA and not for college (and post-college) aged people.
I think Chapter 21 (in part 2) would have been powerful if I cared at all about these characters. This book is a reminder that I need to get my grad school applications finished. But I am still not emotionally involved. And I am SO easy to make cry.
Nitpicking
- I HATE “Pies” as a nickname. It is so cringeworthy.
- YOU NORMALLY WOULD NOT HAVE YOUR PASSPORT CHECKED IF YOU ARE TRAVELING WITHIN THE EU. I now see this was mentioned, so there would be some plot. But anyone who knows anything about travel in Europe would know that this is not a concern. Like you need ID to get on a plane, but you do not need a passport to travel within the EU. And then this doesn’t even really become much of a plot point. Why have something that is inaccurate for this little payoff? We don’t even get to see her get it back.
- There is NO WAY you could go to Versailles (opens at 9) take the train back (takes about an hour), go to the Louvre, go to the Eiffel Tower, CLIMB TO ALMOST THE TOP, go down and it only be 5:45. This book is so poorly researched.
- The TFioS rip-off moment is not any less a rip-off moment because it was mentioned.
Another positive: I liked the acknowledgments a lot. They were so sweet, and it made me feel very guilty that I didn't like the book.
I much prefer to like things.
Book Tumblr
First off, my Christine credentials! I have watched her videos on and off since 2012 probably. She was certainly in the first wave of booktube people I found out about and is at least in part responsible for shaping what I was reading at the time. I genuinely think that she seems like a great person, and I will continue my low-key viewer status. Just wanted to put this up here to head off any 'you don't dislike this book you just hate Christine!' type thoughts.
I was so so disappointed in this book. I went into it sure I would at least like it a decent amount. I low-key thought that the other reviews I was seeing were just people who wanted to hate it because they don't like Christine, or because they think she probably got an easy book deal. I thought worst-case scenario it's 3.5/4 stars because it is not excellent, but I still have fun with it.
I felt like I was perfectly primed to LOVE this book. I studied abroad in London when I was in college. I had flatmates that I thought were excellent people! We traveled around the city together and had the most amazing time. After classes, myself and nine other students city hopped until we were too poor to keep hopping. In London, there was a cute boy! And most importantly, I fell deeply in love with London. I was SOLD by this pitch.
I think that if I was sat down and given a spoiler-filled three minute summary of this story, I would probably still love the story. Unfortunately, the execution left so much to be desired.
If I had not wanted to finish this book so I could review it, I would have DNFed at Chapter 3. Then I wanted to again at 15%; then, I thought that I could justify a review with just 25%, the same thought at 50%. But I really don't like to DNF stuff. So I read the whole book. I did skim from about Part 2, Chapter 3, until about Chapter 21, then I read normally until the end.
I was not bothered by the similarities between Shane and Christine. Mostly because I am sure tons of writers, especially newer writers, do this, and we mostly never notice because we don't have access to a ton of information about them.
The Writing
The writing in this book was just so clunky. I continuously was pulled out of the story because something was phrased oddly, or it just felt slightly outlandish.
I didn't find sleep, but I did find the taxi line outside the airport, so here's to that.
I secure the bookbag high on my shoulder, grasp the carry-on in my front hand, and prepare to drag the suitcase behind me.
"Uh, actually I think that was pretty witty," he responds, using the male version of a valley-girl voice,
I was BAFFLED by the constant use of fashion as a verb. Do real people say this? That question popped into my mind over and over with almost all of the dialogue. It is so stilted and does not feel like a real human conversation.
I could tell what she was trying to do often; it was just the gap between intention and result was massive. I was not charmed by the characters, I was not interested in the plot, I was not sucked into the setting, and all of these problems are because this book is not written well. I completely believe that if Christine did not have the following, she did this book would not have been published. I feel a little harsh saying that, because I have positive feelings towards Christine, but that is truly how I feel about the writing.
Often times, the reader would enter the scene after a decent amount of action had taken place, so the scene would start with Shane recapping us. It would have been much more enjoyable if we had experienced the scene set up with Shane to some extent. There was a constant problem of telling not showing. It was also why the journaling bits didn't work very well for me. They were fine for character voice stuff, but they made the pacing drag and totally removed the interest I had in what was going on.
Also, I know this is an ARC, but MAN! This editor has a lot to do.
I just kept becoming more and more frustrated with how unprofessional the writing seemed.
The opening sentence of this book is fine. It is not great. It is not terrible. But this book calls out the importance of opening sentences three times, and it makes me think that I am meant to be mega impressed by “I’m leaving the country because I have no friends.” And the more I think I should be floored by it, the more I resent it.
The pop-culture references do not seem to help the book. They pull me out of the story and sometimes also make me cringe a little bit, even with references to things I like. EVEN TO HARRY POTTER.
This book just feels very inexpert, which is fine. I just do not believe this could have been published if they did not know it was going to sell regardless of quality. It reads like okay fan fiction. Nothing is fleshed out; the writing is so not tight; I just do not know how to process this book in the form I have encountered it.
If Christine writes a book in 5-10 years, I will totally check back in. She has the potential to write something good, more about that later, but she really needs more time to grow as a writer.
The Setting
This book could almost take place anywhere. She gives what amounts to shopping lists of landmarks and museums in a smattering of cities and occasionally points out small differences from the US, but I never felt a sense of place.
I have been to every location described with more than a sentence (I never went to Berlin, but that is just mentioned in passing). I have spent a significant amount of time in London, a little over a week in Paris, and a few days in Edinburgh and Rome. And if I had not already been to these places, I would still not have any sort of feel for them. My brain kept wanting to jump in and add prose to develop the setting because it was almost nonexistent. There were two sentences describing a street in London HALFWAY THROUGH THE BOOK that were getting close to what I wanted. I keep seeing people in reviews being like "total Anna and the French Kiss vibes" and no. Paris breathes in that book, London does not feel like it even has a pulse in Again, but Better.
As someone who has been to all of these places, it is so unrealistic the amount of stuff they are able to do in a day and that the price of some of this stuff doesn’t come up. I’m pretty sure a Paris Pass is almost 200$, so that seems like something that someone else wouldn’t get for you. And something that you would at least note the price.
It drove me absolutely bonkers that this book was just sort of listing places to go and things in them. I really got no sense of what these places are like at all. AND I HAVE BEEN TO THESE PLACES. There is no atmosphere at all in this book. Why would you want to read a book based on travel where you do not get a chance to fall in love with the places.
Something else that bothered me: the lack of language being an issue for anyone? Only Shane was mentioned to speak Italian; no one is said to speak French. Why do language barriers not come up? That is such a wonderful place to insert funny moments or some plot conflict; it also adds to the setting so much.
I was expecting someone who reads a blend of fantasy and contemporary to really understand how important world-building is to all genres.
The Plot
I often felt like I was just being told a series of events in a list and not like I was being told a cohesive story. This feeling was more intense in the first half of the novel and did get a tad better in the last few chapters.
The only part of the plot I was genuinely interested in was how horrible her family was. That did genuinely make me sad; her parents were straight-up monsters, especially her father.
Again, the idea for this book isn’t bad. The idea is sort of cute and fun. The pitch for this book totally sold me. I just don’t think that Riccio is really skilled enough to execute this book well.
I was not compelled by the romantic aspect of this plot. And this book was mostly the romantic segment.
Nothing about the romance felt natural; the conflict mostly felt haphazard and contrived. I was not sold by this at all.
The love confession bit was sort of cute. Also a little pathetic. But he has a SIX YEAR relationship with a girl going on. So it felt massively shitty of Pilot, the terribly named love-interest, to kiss Shane in Part Two, it would have been far more palatable in Part One. I kinda get being able to easily change your mind about a girl you have known for three months. But six years is a long time. I just feel like we know not much about Pilot’s thoughts, and if we did, they would probably make no sense.
I am of two minds about chapter 23.
Chapter 22 of Part 2 (I think) I mostly stopped skimming. This was really when the plot stopped focusing on Pilot so much, and turns out I like the book better without Pilot. This four-chapter stretch is what will probably bump my rating up to 2 stars for me. I wish I had really gotten to know and like Shane earlier in the book, it would have been delightful to have somewhat enjoyed the first 40 chapters.
The epilogue was horrible. Shane went from having a ton of problems left to solve to having magically fixed everything and being massively successful. The reader needs to see some of that emotional labor if I am supposed to give credit for wrapping those plot lines up like this. It felt very cheap and poorly thought out.
The Characters
Shane was a fine main character. I did not really care much about her at all until Chapter 21 of Part 2. I saw a ton of Christine in her, which isn't bad, but I just didn't really have strong positive or negative feelings about Shane throughout most of the book. I did hate that she kept being described as yelling things at times when it was so not appropriate to be yelling, but other characters did that as well. It was also through Shane that most of the jarring pop culture references were mentioned, and I clearly did not enjoy most of that.
Her friends are fine. They don't really have personalities and seem like tools just to push the romantic and family drama plots forward. Babe and Sahra are just kind of there. I especially felt Sahra was just there to ruin the family dinner situation by being uncharacteristically stupid.
I have seen a lot of shade about the names of everyone in this book. I was personally not at all bothered by any of the names except Pilot. Like the first episode of a tv show. I assume it was because he was their first kid. And his sister's names were so bland I cannot remember them. I hate this name. Also, I did not enjoy this character at all. Such a boring YA cool boy amalgamation character. He was not charming, and I was never really interested in him. This felt especially damning because I am a massive sucker for romance. Basically, every love-interest that is endgame works for me. You can’t just keep telling me he is smirking and that make me like him. He is too flaky and uninteresting.
They legit almost kiss before the reader has the time to know if they are into it? That was a character and a pacing problem! I also would not have gotten that they almost kissed if I was not told by Shane.
I hate how often our main characters tell us they are being clever. That does not make me think they are clever. That makes me think they are tweens.
So. Not. Charmed.
The parents have textbook abusive language. Pretty much, the only thing I am found interesting about this book is the terrible family subplot. And it was resolved so poorly. These people have a terribly dysfunctional family all around. And the straight-up yelling at your kid in public like that was terrible.
When she was adding drama to Babe's life by having her love interest be trash, I was rolling my eyes so hard. His characterization felt so forced and one-note. Why would this girl b friends with this terrible boy who is shown to have no redeeming qualities? And I keep rolling my eyes at “I like short girls” WHO TALKS LIKE THIS. As a short girl, I can tell you no one ever comes up and says, “ohhh, I like short girls” when they are being creepy/thinking they are complimenting me.
The way characters talk to each other is so juvenile. Christine’s voice would probably work better with a younger YA and not for college (and post-college) aged people.
I think Chapter 21 (in part 2) would have been powerful if I cared at all about these characters. This book is a reminder that I need to get my grad school applications finished. But I am still not emotionally involved. And I am SO easy to make cry.
Nitpicking
- I HATE “Pies” as a nickname. It is so cringeworthy.
- YOU NORMALLY WOULD NOT HAVE YOUR PASSPORT CHECKED IF YOU ARE TRAVELING WITHIN THE EU. I now see this was mentioned, so there would be some plot. But anyone who knows anything about travel in Europe would know that this is not a concern. Like you need ID to get on a plane, but you do not need a passport to travel within the EU. And then this doesn’t even really become much of a plot point. Why have something that is inaccurate for this little payoff? We don’t even get to see her get it back.
- There is NO WAY you could go to Versailles (opens at 9) take the train back (takes about an hour), go to the Louvre, go to the Eiffel Tower, CLIMB TO ALMOST THE TOP, go down and it only be 5:45. This book is so poorly researched.
- The TFioS rip-off moment is not any less a rip-off moment because it was mentioned.
Another positive: I liked the acknowledgments a lot. They were so sweet, and it made me feel very guilty that I didn't like the book.
I much prefer to like things.
Book Tumblr
I had a really good time reading this book! I had the ARC for months but grad school and upheaval of my normal routine really made me read way less, I picked up this book on a total whim and I am so happy I did.
This is an adult romance, not my normal genre but one I totally need to read more of, that balances fun and serious perfectly. Chloe Brown is a chronically ill rich black woman living on her own for the first time after nearly being run over by a car, that experience makes her want to "get a life" because the life flashing before her eyes was very uneventful. Redford Morgan, Red, is her massive ginger landlord who is relentlessly cherry and has a traumatic past. They butt heads, build a friendship, and become achingly into each other.
This book deals with past abusive relationships, chronic pain, race, and class. I hadn't read many books that deal with chronic pain and really found the representation of that element of Chloe's life very interesting and well done.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown is also wonderfully light-hearted and funny! And its a romance, it totally delivers on the romance.
This is the first of three novels following the Brown sisters and I am beyond excited for the next two books.
This is an adult romance, not my normal genre but one I totally need to read more of, that balances fun and serious perfectly. Chloe Brown is a chronically ill rich black woman living on her own for the first time after nearly being run over by a car, that experience makes her want to "get a life" because the life flashing before her eyes was very uneventful. Redford Morgan, Red, is her massive ginger landlord who is relentlessly cherry and has a traumatic past. They butt heads, build a friendship, and become achingly into each other.
This book deals with past abusive relationships, chronic pain, race, and class. I hadn't read many books that deal with chronic pain and really found the representation of that element of Chloe's life very interesting and well done.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown is also wonderfully light-hearted and funny! And its a romance, it totally delivers on the romance.
This is the first of three novels following the Brown sisters and I am beyond excited for the next two books.
I am properly obsessed with Caitlin Doughty. I read Smoke Gets in Your Eyes in 2016 as a book club pick (I briefly organized a book club with some of my friends), and it was a complete game-changer. I watch her youtube channel (Ask a Mortician), have read all three of her books, have seen basically every talk and interview she has ever given. Obsessed.
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions From Tiny Mortals About Death is an excellent introduction to the world of Caitlin Doughty. It is fun, informative, and respectful; I am pretty confident that if I were not super obsessed with her, I would have given this five stars (more on this in a moment).
Doughty addresses being eaten by pets post-death, Viking funerals, pet burial practices, what would happen if you died in space, and many many more topics. I found myself laughing often; she has an incredibly engaging writing style and learned tons! My conversational fun-facts have really benefitted by my Caitlin Doughty content consumption.
It might be slightly unfair to give this book four stars because I think the 1 star I knocked off was because I did know the basic answers to many of these questions due to consuming her content so intensely for such a long time. I learned tons of new things, but some parts dragged because I knew the answers.
I think this is an excellent gift-book! Probably anyone over ten would find this book fascinating (I would maybe check with parents for under 10's, mostly for parent reaction and reading level than for content). If you want a more personal overview of the death industry, start with Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and if you want more of an insider death ritual focused travel log read From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death. And watch her Ask a Mortician videos because I told you too.
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions From Tiny Mortals About Death is an excellent introduction to the world of Caitlin Doughty. It is fun, informative, and respectful; I am pretty confident that if I were not super obsessed with her, I would have given this five stars (more on this in a moment).
Doughty addresses being eaten by pets post-death, Viking funerals, pet burial practices, what would happen if you died in space, and many many more topics. I found myself laughing often; she has an incredibly engaging writing style and learned tons! My conversational fun-facts have really benefitted by my Caitlin Doughty content consumption.
It might be slightly unfair to give this book four stars because I think the 1 star I knocked off was because I did know the basic answers to many of these questions due to consuming her content so intensely for such a long time. I learned tons of new things, but some parts dragged because I knew the answers.
I think this is an excellent gift-book! Probably anyone over ten would find this book fascinating (I would maybe check with parents for under 10's, mostly for parent reaction and reading level than for content). If you want a more personal overview of the death industry, start with Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and if you want more of an insider death ritual focused travel log read From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death. And watch her Ask a Mortician videos because I told you too.