amykinla's reviews
78 reviews

The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya

4.0

Entitlement by Rumaan Alam

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Female protagonist slowly losing her grip on reality? Sign me up, babe. This novel was able to tackle high-level subject matter -- class, race, privilege -- in a deceptively simple fashion. It's a story about what it's like to be surrounded by wealth but not have it yourself, then to start wondering who actually deserves it -- and why not you? 

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

emotional hopeful reflective slow-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 think I love Coco Mellors but only like her books? I went down a massive IG rabbit hole with her, lusting after Rapunzel-esque flaxen locks and cute ass style. In keeping with her book's title, everything in her life seems to be a shade of blue, from powdery pastel flats to her son, whose name is Indigo. Anyway, her being as obviously cool as she is -- and this book being on so many cool girls' lists -- made me even more inclined to be obsessed with "Blue Sisters." But I just wasn't. All of the characters were sweet and likable, but the one sister that the book needs to revolve around -- Nicki, who has recently passed away -- felt the least realized to me. This was difficult, since much of the writing focused on the sisters' missing her.

We Burn Daylight by Bret Anthony Johnston

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

This had all the ingredients of a novel I'd love: Cult, star-crossed lovers, alternating POVs. Sadly, it didn't connect for me. Perhaps it was because the protagonists -- the son of a Waco sheriff and the daughter of a woman following a David Koresh-like figure -- were so young that their romance seemed half-baked. Without buying into the love story, the lengths both went to for one another during the infamous police standoff felt hollow.

Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

3.75

My biggest issue with this, oddly, was that Elle Fanning narrated the audiobook and she varies so greatly from how I imagine Margo in my mind. She's also planning to star in a TV adaptation of the book. I know this is a silly thing to be caught up with, especially since I found the story to be enjoyable. I'm not sure I get why everyone is so deeply obsessed with it? But it was the rare book that genuinely made you feel good -- where the humanity of the characters really came through. Actually, maybe I do get why this novel has caught on?

An Honest Woman: A Memoir of Love and Sex Work by Charlotte Shane

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

3.25

The Nude: A Novel by C. Michelle Lindley

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This was a better version of "The Sleepwalkers," another 2024 mystery set on a Greek island. I'm always intrigued by a novel where a woman doesn't seem to be in control of her own mind. I liked the dreamy passages where she was exploring the connection between her reveries of the past and her current reality. But the author never manages to say anything of real substance about cultural theft, which is a bummer. Still, there were some lovely passages where Lindley's writing stuck with me:

"A part of me remained in that front seat, warmed by the summer air, trembling through rolled-down windows, inhaling a strange man's scent, watching his golden hair billow with the bumps of the road, pressing my knees together until my bones began to throb. I'm still hoping he'll turn the car around and take me somewhere else."

Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Liars by Sarah Manguso

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

3.75

I admired this book more than I enjoyed it. To be clear, I don't believe that every reading experience needs to be pleasant. In fact, I generally tend towards consuming content that faces difficult subject matter head-on -- documentaries about animals in captivity, depressing songs, grave reporting about climate change. Sarah Manguso is a masterful writer. She uses every word with precision, her protagonist somehow dissecting a failed marriage with both a magnifying glass and a cold sense of remove. But the narrator is so utterly miserable that the act of reading her story -- even in the moments when her experiences resonate, and they do -- wasn't something I relished. I was hoping to be able to say, by the end, that it was such a great piece of art that it was worth the journey, but I'm still not sure.

I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself: One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris by Glynnis MacNicol

reflective medium-paced

3.0

As a huge fan of the author's first memoir about what it's like to be 40 and without a spouse or a baby, I was highly anticipating this. Unfortunately, it left me wanting. While there were moments of poignancy, the premise somehow rang false to me. That just a month in Paris could prove so revelatory. I was particularly uninterested in the brief discussions of other female artists who had made their lives in Paris, which felt unnecessary. This read like a book in search of a premise - ultimately not adding much to her prior, better work. Which is a bummer, since I enjoy MacNicol's writing style and admire the way she lives her life.