anisyrah's reviews
92 reviews

Sacred Hospitality by Olivie Blake

lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

This mainly just felt unnecessary, maybe even to the point of slice-of-life AU fan fiction. 

I can’t lie though: the Libby and Nico bickering is always so much fun. They’re my faves, so I’ll take the extra scenes happily. 

Hers for the Weekend by Helena Greer

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.5

Another amazing addition to the series! I love how all of the relationship dynamics feel so real in these novels. Although their bare bones are tropes, every character and both their platonic and romantic relationships are so incredibly fleshed out. Tara and Holly’s dynamic was so believable, including their ups and downs. I laughed, cried, and blushed throughout their love story. 

Although the first in the series is still my favorite, it’s so amazing to see the characters in this world expand and grow throughout all three books. Despite having different main protagonists in all three, this cast of characters is so immersive that you just end up rooting for all of them! They’re so realistic, I almost feel like I know them in real life. They’re absolutely my comfort characters.

I would read 100 more romance novels set at Carrigan’s!

For Never & Always by Helena Greer

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.0

For Never & Always was a very realistic romance, grounded in sensible relationship issues, genuine dynamics, and an incredibly comforting display of complex grief as someone new to the complex grieving process. That being said, it may have leaned a little too realistic into the back and forth nature of difficult times in persistent relationship flaws. I did feel as if we rounded the issues a few too many times before tackling them, but the at the same time, the tug of war really did add to how real Levi and Hannah felt. Absolutely adored their dynamic and the complexities! And getting to see the larger cast of returning characters felt like coming home. 

Rouge by Mona Awad

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.0

This book’s premise was incredibly promising: taking the societal concept of “cult of beauty” and transforming it into a physical beauty cult. The novel also incorporated in some very interesting and layered mother-daughter relationship complexities that did have me in tears at several points. Lots of very good things going on, especially in the first third and the last third of this book. 

The middle, however, was convoluted. It ran rather long and really could have been condensed in several areas, as it took away from the building suspense in the beginning and truly delayed the resolution longer than necessary. 

Overall, willing to give this author another swing but this one isn’t one I’d really recommend. 

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Umm okay? What was that?

I’m just feeling left completely underwhelmed and yet a little lost as to why we ended where we did. I do appreciate this book for being exactly what I needed: a whacky hot girl lit fic novel that was both grounded in an off putting reality and entertaining enough to distract from a shitty life week.

But what even was that ending? Maybe I’m not hot enough or lit fic enough to see the symbolism in it. 

The only basis of comparison I have when I’ve dipped into this genre before is A Certain Hunger, which I enjoyed significantly more. There were lots of good creepy moments, but big reveals in this one just fell flat. I’m left with that feeling of investing time and energy into a weird thriller tv show and feeling bleh and empty by the end of it. Unsatisfied is the best label I can place on this one. 

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

funny reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

This was a very interesting short story!! Despite its short run time, Murata tackles several large, heavy themes like otherness, societal expectations, gendered & misogynistic views, and community & an individual’s role in it. 

However, I found myself knowing where the plot was going to go beat for beat. That can be a testament to how established Murata’s characters were and a feat for doing so in such a short period of time, but it left me feeling overall underwhelmed. I guess I was expecting some “big twist” to come at the end but one never really came. 

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed myself in the circular plot with how immersive the setting was and just how close of a look we got at the main character’s voice, feelings, and perspective. 

Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris

challenging emotional 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

This book was such a fun time! I keep falling into the trap of being advertised a queer novel that ends up being YA when I wasn’t expecting it, but I had an amazing time all the same! The characters were incredibly believable and the journey they went on was incredibly fun to follow! 

I really enjoyed the dual POVs that bounced us back and forth between timelines, and the twist was so much fun—mainly because I figured it out about ten pages before the reveal, which is always so satisfying. 

I loved all of the Taylor Swift lyrical references (or happy coincidences) and was overall satisfied with the ending. What a good ride!

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

The audiobook for Tom Lake is narrated by Meryl Streep, meaning this book is as if Donna from Mamma Mia is telling the March sisters from Little Women about her short-lived acting career and the boy she fell in love with. 

Yes, it’s that good. 

I laughed, I cried, and I felt like a fourth daughter listening to Lara’s incredible stories. The interconnectedness of this old tale told on a Michigan cherry farm during the height of the pandemic explores not just a young girl’s first love, but the importance of love, loss, and family during the most mundane of times and the most dire. 

I wish I could hear this story for the first time again. Meryl absolutely deserves a Grammy for her narration. If you’ve even thought about reading it? Please, please do. 

The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake

emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

So utterly disappointing. Just completely and utterly so disappointing. The ending of this book, and subsequently the ending of the trilogy, left so much to be desired. I adored the complex relationship between the main six characters and how uniquely individual they all felt despite the cast of main characters being large. It is truly Olivie Blake’s talent, building out believable characters. 

But then those believable characters commit actions that just feel so incredibly out of character and contribute to such a circular, nothing plot that I’m left unable to bask in the vibes like I did in book one and two. This ending was horrific, pasted together in a way that left me wanting to just go back to the other books in the trilogy and wonder how the fuck did we get to this ending? 

How do you go from building such complex relationships between these characters to all of them ending up feeling *shrug* about each other? Oh my god. I’m so disappointed. I wish I could pull a Libby Rhodes and go back in time to when I was still just in the lovely vibes of the first half of book one.

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

This is another 3.5 star review inclusion for this trilogy so far. 

With a not-so-satisfying ending to the book before this one, I was going in with a lot of reservations. Ultimately, I think this was a good addition to where it was left off. At times, the narrative really felt like it was lagging in an effort to drag out the main conflict of the novel. I noticed a lot more in this second book that we as readers mainly bounces from character on character conflict that follows the mainly interchangeable formula every time. 

This book is absolutely a political intrigue novel backdropped in an academic setting, and at times the verbal spats got a bit tiresome in their repetition. 

Also, justice for my girl Belen Jiménez. Her chapter was by FAR my favorite.