bestja01's reviews
306 reviews

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

A really beautiful exploration of grief, change, and figuring yourself out at different stages of life. I loved getting to meet these characters and follow Phoebe’s journey through the wedding. It had a slow start but hooked me eventually and I was rooting so hard for everybody to figure themselves out.

Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

Beautiful and strange

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

Suzanne Collins doesn’t miss.

Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

Despite the very non-human blob, it’s a very human story

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop

informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous emotional 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

4.25

I love the universe created in the Stormlight books, and I love the characters Sanderson has created as well- I feel so invested in their journeys. This book was a wonderful and epic continuation/kinda-conclusion, and I can’t believe I’ll have to wait YEARS for the next one. It was a bit too “talk-y” for my taste, and some of the philosophizing felt repetitive and slowed the pace down. I think the book could have been 200-300 pages shorter and still been effective, but since it’ll be a long time until I see these characters again, I’m glad I had 1400 pages to spend with them.

Wanted: Toddler's Personal Assistant: How Nannying for the 1% Taught Me about the Myths of Equality, Motherhood, and Upward Mobility in America by Stephanie Kiser

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

As someone who has worked around the wealthy, I enjoyed this very intimate look into the world of the ultra-rich. It is written with honesty and vulnerability, and is a great exploration of class and money, and what it is like to be exposed to that level of wealth while not having it yourself. 

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.75

A series of beautiful, loosely connected vignettes about a pandemic that happens in the near future- some of it was hard to read, but it was gorgeous. Realistic but hopeful, weird but relatable. I loved it.

A Doll's House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath

3.75

The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese by Michael Paterniti

adventurous emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

A beautiful book about the power of stories we tell ourselves and others. And also cheese.