anisyrah's reviews
88 reviews

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. 

Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young

emotional inspiring lighthearted slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

This book is fucking sick and twisted because it was SO CUTE and SO ADORABLE!!! Not only was I kicking my little feet at the smexy parts, but I was utterly swept away by Bo and Win’s love story. From meet cute to unexpected pregnancy to getting to know each other to falling in love, I was utterly smitten and just could not put this down. Was it unrealistically fluffy? Yes. Did I love it? Yes!!! So many parts had me audibly laughing and the emotional moments truly made me cry!! The perfect romance novel for those with a domestic heart. Seriously the sweetest. 

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Where to begin? I’m left feeling underwhelmed and disappointed. The beginning of this book and the vibes throughout were immaculate. I really came to love almost all of the characters in this large cast and could at least understand the motivations of all of them—which is a huge feat.

I saw the first big twist coming and enjoyed the way in which it added to the overall plot. The second, however, was incredibly jarring and infuriatingly out of left field. I’ll keep it spoiler free, but I do fully feel as if the second big twist undermined the entire established plot and took away too much of the main cast’s abilities and will. 

And, not for nothing, big twists have to straddle a line between surprising and believable. They’re only fun if, should you go back and reread the material, you’d find clues. There’s no way those exist in this case, which just proves, in my opinion, how random and out of place it felt. I will be reading the next in the trilogy solely to find out what happens to the characters I’ve come to love. And, I won’t lie, to see how this possibly resolves. 

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

4.25

Although this book took me several months to read, it wasn't the content that did so. Surprising to me, I really, really enjoyed this book. After reading Normal People as a black-and-white thinking 21 year old, I had dismissed Sally Rooney as an author I'd want to read again. Now that I'm 24 and able to see the gray a lot more, I think that I've really grown to appreciate Rooney's characters, especially in Beautiful World, Where Are You specifically. I'll also say I think listening to the audiobook lended to her more complex and gray thoughts to flow better—and her lack of quotation marks to be not so frustrating.

The relationships between all of the characters simply felt so real and authentic. None of them are without flaws, and said flaws impact their relationships in varying ways. Rooney really excels at depicting concepts of aging friendships, as well as explores the darker aspects of mental health. I also really commend her for pushing the boundary on Rupaul's mindset of "if you don't love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love anyone else?" Rooney explores the ways in which we can still be loved even when struggling to love ourselves—which, to me, is more realistic and human.

Really and truly, I'm in awe of how much more I related to each and every one of these complex characters than Normal People. Special shout out to Carley for encouraging me to give this one a shot too. Sorry it took me so long!

She Gets the Girl by Alyson Derrick, Rachael Lippincott

emotional lighthearted 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

She Gets the Girl was an incredibly sweet YA romance! I’ve always loved the trope of matchmaker falling in love with matchee, and this book did a great job making both young women so individual yet representative of college freshmen: ready to party it up or incredibly anxious. 

I was surprised when there was very little post-get together scenes, as most romance novels will often give readers a time-skip epilogue. I really just wanted more time with these two together!