catherine_thegreat's reviews
261 reviews

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Damn. It wasn’t life changing for me, but it was a very good book. Donna Tartt is brilliant for writing a novel that is paced as slowly as this one and also simultaneously a page turner that you can’t put down. I enjoyed having to take breaks and think about the characters and plot for a while before returning to find out what actually happened. The actual plot was crazy too and something I expect to be picking at loose threads of to try to unravel the varied layers for quite some time.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.0

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good by Elise Loehnen

hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

On Our Best Behaviour was such an eye-opening, educational, and freeing read. I had no idea the seven deadly sins weren’t originally in the Bible but were actually added later by Pope Gregory I, and I’d never really considered how much language has changed since then—meaning we might not even be interpreting them the way they were intended. This book was so relatable and thought-provoking, especially in how it made me reflect on the ways I’ve internalized the pressure to be “good” from society, and from growing up in a Southern Baptist church. And how for most women, being “good” really just means striving for perfection. Reading this definitely made me rethink some of the impossible standards I hold myself to, but in a way that felt freeing rather than uncomfortable. It kind of reminds me of that East of Eden quote: “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” Definitely planning to strive for that in my own life now.

Cassandra Speaks: When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes by Elizabeth Lesser

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0