abookishmagpie's reviews
610 reviews

Rein Me In by Kayla Grosse

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

Trying out western romance for the first time with this one that I have heard good things about. Blake lost her brother five years ago and left her home town for five years in an effort to hide from her grief, but now she is back to help out on her families ranch after her mother breaks her leg and she has to face her grief as well as her lived ones. It doesn't make it easier that a few run ins with her brothers former friend, Gavin, have her angry but also a little curious what the handsome cowboy has going on. The romance had some great chemistry between the main characters, their banter was fun to read. The emotional side of the story is heavier than anticipated, but for me I think that made the story more powerful. I definitely had a good time diving into this genre and I can easily see myself reading another like it in the future.

Bunny by Mona Awad

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

 What an absolute journey this book was. It has had some decent hype for a few years and I always hemmed and hawed on if I really wanted to read it, because it is definitely outside of what would normally interest me, but I always was just very curious was it was often cited as a book that you either love it or hate it. So for the Halloween season I decided I would finally dive in. The basic concept is that we follow Samantha, a woman starting her second year at a prestigious MFA program, who feels like an outsider in her fiction cohort. The four other women she is in school with have their own little cliquey (almost cult like) connection where they call each other Bunny and host their own get togethers. Samantha both hates them, but wants to be at least invited into their world. When she does some extra weird things begin to happen and she becomes almost like a different person and she has to find her way back to her friend Ava and try to graduate on time and with her sanity and writing voice which has been hard to find since she entered the program. To say this is a unique story is putting it mildly and I can’t really explain much without spoiling it either, I think the writing was skillfully good and engaging for sure, but the story itself was for sure not for me. I was in a constant state of, “What the F?” while reading and sometimes that was okay and others I was just kind of annoyed by it. The final plot twist was clever and did bring the overall story together better, but the bulk of it was just so wild and outlandish I can’t really admit to liking it. I guess I am going to fall into the category of not liking this book, and that’s totally fine. An experience nonetheless. 

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

 I had a feeling this was going to be an interesting ride given the author and the subject matter, but it really surprised me how much it meshed the fictional elements along with the background setting of this real life story that shook the county in the 1970s. Telling a fictionalized story of a serial killer could go wrong so fast, but I feel as if Knoll did a good job of keeping in the details that were important for the reader to know as well as mixing in her made-up characters in place of real victims and survivors as well as her fictional story line that kept the reader engaged and curious. It could have been easy to not get caught up in the story because for the most part we know how a big chunk of it ends, but the use of the connection of our main character Pam to Tina and Tina's connection to a victim of the serial killer was done well I thought. The plot device of not naming the killer, but rather referring to him as 'The Defendant' was a strong choice made by the author that I really admire that she kept up with it throughout the whole novel and I think the way she has Pam talk about him as well is such a smart choice. It's obvious that Knoll did her research to write this novel and also took care to handle the stories of the victims and survivors with care as they and their loved ones have already been through enough. This is definitely a surprise favorite of the year for me. 

Getting Clean With Stevie Green by Swan Huntley, Swan Huntley

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

I truly am not sure how to feel about this book. It was the most random pick inspired by a suggestion to me on my library's website and it has left me in the most random of moods after reading it. In the novel Stevie Green has moved home after a reckless and nomadic last twenty years and started her own decluttering business. We get some other perspectives which works to give us the readers more information, but also gets kinda weird because the chapters are written so aggressively first person it feels like a person is looking you dead in the eye and telling you their story. Slowly bits and pieces of Stevie's past are revealed and it paints a picture as to how and why Stevie is a pretty messed up person. The long and short of it is that I didn't hate this book but I also didn't love it...or even feel much at all. The writing was fine, the pacing was okay and the storyline made sense and revealed itself in a decent way, but still I am left just shoulder shrugging my final thoughts. The ending was a little lack luster in that the big clash happens and then is resolved and wrapped up in mere pages. So yeah...it was just a interesting experience in that I kept reading and never questioned if it was because I loved it and needed to know the ending or if I hated it and wanted it over. I can't really recommend it because I have no idea who to suggest it too, but I also wouldn't advise against reading it either. 

Yours, for Now by Leonor Soliz

emotional funny hopeful relaxing 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

This book was an absolute random choice after seeing an Instagram post that shared romances with fat main characters. I was in the mood for a good romance and I am always game to read one with fat representation. In this book we follow Lina and Gabe who know each other from working for their families businesses in the construction industry and while both have always had an attaction to the other they have never acted on it. Until the opportunity for their businesses to work together in an important project that would advance both Lina and Gabe's careers comes along and they discover a fake relationship might help seal the deal more securely for Lina's family who leans more traditional. They agree to a short term fake relationship till they secure the project and a better future for themselves. However, spending more time together both for work and to keep up the ruse their attaction to each other only grows stronger and more intense, can they really manage to end this when the time comes? The balance of sweet romance and fun spice is done really well in my opinion, it is for sure a bit of a slower build but it is so worth the wait. I also really appreciated that there was a solid plot outside the romance that had heft and actual consequences, making it feel more real and keeps you invested in all parts of the book. I had a great time with this book and I am so happy I decided to take the chance on a book I knew very little about. I'll definitely be looking into other books by this author in the futuree.

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative 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

 After Silvia Morena-Garcia blew up with the release of Mexican Gothic I was always curious to try something by her and when I heard about this book on her backlist it sounded like something I would enjoy and so I added it to my TBR. It did take a bit to get into it, nearly 100 pages before I was finding myself truly invested and needing to keep going so I could see what plot point was coming up next. Nina is a young girl who has come into the major city of Loisail to staty with her cousin and his wife for the Grand Season in hopes she may find a match and marry. Being the country girl that she is, plus the telekinetic powers she appears to posses, she is starting with a bit of a disadvantage. However, when she meets Hector Auvray, a famous telekinetic performer, she is entranced and eager to both learn from him and see if perhaps love is easier to find among someone who understands her talent. Hector is hiding the fact that his interest in Nina is more rooted in his past romantic fling with her cousin’s wife than it is Nina herself. He courts Nina in an attempt to be closer to his former love, but finds himself seeming to fall for Nina and all her quirks along the way. There is a lot of background that has to be laid before the real meat and potatoes of the story can begin to be told and then unfold, but understanding that backstory makes the connections between characters more intense and have more consequences. I definitely found myself swept up in the romance of it all and even caught myself tearing up at a few moments. And the part when our “villain” finally gets their comeuppance is so rewarding and worth the long wait to see it happen. I’d say that this was a good read for fans of period romances with the drama and mess. There is the magical element to it, but I can’t say it is a deeply developed or super important part of the story. It was still a good introduction to this author and I will check out more from her in the future. 

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

 I’ve had this book on my radar since it came out last year and got some really good reviews. It is a little outside my usual zone of reading, but that was something I liked about it, to push me and get me to try something new. In the novel we follow two POV, Beatriz mainly as well as Andrés, Beatriz has just married Don Rodolfo Solóranzo to save hereslf and her mother from a life of depending on her mother’s mean and judgmental family after the murder of Beatriz father. She believes this marriage, and the Hacienda San Isidro it comes with, will give her somewhere to live and to flourish away from the stuffy capital after the end of the Mexican War. However, it takes no time at all for Beatriz to know that San Isidro is not all that it seems and someone, or something, is watching her closely. Andrés grew up in the pueblo of San Isidro and knows it and all its demons well. After being sent away for years to be trained to become a priest he returns to Rodolfo’s first wife who is cruel and harsh on the staff that are his family and, in an argument, she bans him from the property and he has not been allowed at his home since, that is until Beatriz seeks the help to rid San Isidro of whatever force is haunting her and her new home. From there it is a battle for both Beatriz and Andrés to come to terms with San Isidro and what it is and what it represents to them. They fight side by side the past of the Hacienda and restore it to a place that will still have a future. I liked this well enough; it was a nice change of pace that kept me engaged. I wouldn’t say it blew my mind and became a new favorite or that it made me crave more books like it, but I didn’t hate it or have a bad time with it either. The pacing could be a little slow at times, but the building of the history of San Isidro as a character itself was really well done. I’d recommend this for anyone who likes Gothic type books. 

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book has leaped right onto my list of all-time favorite books. I was captured by Poston's purply prose she used throughout the book to describe things visually as well as the smells and tastes of things. Clementine is an engaging and lovable character who we get to see grow a lot from many different scenarios she is facing in her life, and I loved getting to see her romance flourish and bloom as well as the dynamics she had with her friends and especially the relationship between her and her aunt. Poston in her last two novels has now mastered this ability to present concepts that seem like they will be impossible to provide a true happy ending with these sweet, romantic and moving stories. In this one Clementine comes home to her new apartment, that was her late aunt's home where she spent many summers and finds a mysterious man in it who just happens to be living seven years in the past. So, we see Clementine have to balance this bizarre and unique situation at home while also facing some major life moments at work and with her path in life in the present. 

It sounds like a hilariously wacky plot that has no chance of working, but it does. Man, does it. I was laughing and swooning and sobbing many times throughout and I couldn't stop reading it till I was done and had found out where Clementine's story ended. I thought the topics discussed (which yes can be extremely heavy so just a warning to check for trigger warnings) were handled so well and with such eloquent words to describe the feelings of the characters. I knew from about half way through it was going to be a five star, but by the end I just knew it was something I was going to purchase my own copy to have on my shelves and return to many times in the future. 

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

challenging emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This is going to be one of those books that everyone seems to love, and I just didn't. I thought fortune it was going to be a cozy and heartwarming read, but the way the main character was written (and acted via the audiobook) I usually found myself irritated and pulled so far out of caring for the main relationships going on. Patrick has become the guardian of his niece and nephew for a summer after the death of their mother and Patrick's best friend, Sara. Their dad has some issues to work out, so he can be the dad his kids need, so it is off to Palm Springs with their guncle Patrick. The plot felt meandering and, like the author, had a clear beginning and ending in mind, but then muddled around in the middle just adding little plot points to make it fit a certain length. It sucks because I have been anticipating this read, but it just didn't work for me in the end..

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

emotional funny hopeful reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

Everything you heard about this book is right. It is wonderful with such a well paced and plotted out story. The characters are extremely lovable even while flawed as heck, and the romance has such a nice balance of steam and sweetness. Nora and Charlie made me smile, laugh, and even tear up a couple of times, all while being great characters on their own. I especially love the sister relationship between Nora and Libby and how much focus it got throughout the novel, showing the importance of that kind of love and connection as well. I join the leagues of people who highly recommend this book.