coffee_and_chapters's reviews
198 reviews

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

This is the third book released by Alex Michaelides, and I have to say I have read them all. Alex Michalides has become an automatic buy author for me so anytime he releases a book I'm immediately in the bookstore. 

The Fury follows the events that occur on a greek island where Lana (a famous actress) invites her friends on a relaxing holiday. However, the group is not without tensions, and quickly things escalate and result in murder. Told from the POV of Elliot Chase, who is a friend of Lana's, the reader is taken on a journey of fact finding and reading between the lines of what Elliot recalls happened on the island and even before. It leads the reader to be quite unsure of the information received and to try and unpick which parts of Elliot's story are true or false. There was a well-embedded twist in the story and the very final ending had a little easter egg (which I won't give away). One aspect I did struggle with was the monologue from one characters POV, because I found at times losing concentration on what was happening, as the monologue appeared to go on and on. But all in all, the book was a good read, and I think I must have read it in quite a short time-period. 

However, I must say of all the books released by Alex Michaelides, The Silent Patient remains my favourite book of his. 

Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behaviour (or, How to Understand Those Who Cannot Be Understood) by Thomas Erikson

informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

3.0

An interesting and intriguing insight into understanding those around us and how their personality type impacts their behaviour, and how we can navigate those scenarios, particularly in the workplace. It shows us that we are all different in many ways and that people are not one colour or another but can sometimes be a mixture of them. I found this book quite interesting overall and a very informative and easy to follow introduction to the different personality types.  

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved this book from start to finish. This is an incredible exploration of transactional relationships between employee and employer, and the fine line between those. This can be exemplified through Alix's attempts to help Emira with no regard of how this would affect Emira. It also is a great book that gives an insight of what it means to be a grown up, seen through Emira's eyes and her struggle to find herself fully in the world. 

Furthermore, the book addresses nuances of race and privilege through the characters of Alix and Emira, and pulls the reader in so easily through it's accessible writing style and character descriptions that makes you the reader a bystander, watching their interactions like a fly on the fall. 

Murder Offstage by L.B. Hathaway

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

This was not for me…I think perhaps the fact that I listened to it as an audiobook may have added to that. By the time I had finished listening, I was nowhere near clear on what had happened the entire time I was listening. 

Lie With Me by Philippe Besson

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A beautifully transalted coming of age story of a first loves, heartbreak, and how the passage of time puts many things into perspective. 

One of the first few books I read in 2024 and I can remember beautiful quotes about love and heartbreak which made me want to pick up the book and read it all over again. In many ways. This one I would say is for fans of 'Call Me By Your Name' - it's a similar tone but with a different setting and characters of same age. 

The Girls by Lisa Jewell

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

My memory of the plot is terrible, but I do recall enjoying it quite a lot! 

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

An easy to follow mystery thriller about a woman who goes to move in with her brother in Paris only to find out that he is missing, and everyone in the apartment building is a suspect. 

Overall, it was an okay thriller - I was taken by surprise by some of the twists that popped up, but I did find it hard to engage with the book - I think there were so many POVs that it was hard to keep up with what was happening, and I didn't find myself rooting for Jess (the MC) in her quest for the truth. 

Looking for Alaska by John Green

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

There is something truly mesmerising about John Green's storytelling. There are times when I find it difficult to get into some of his books, and Looking for Alaska was one of them. However, I am glad that I stuck with it until the end, because this book broke my heart into pieces in the last part. Not only does it shine an interesting light into the topic of suicide, it normalises the fact that we don't really have to understand why someone would take their own life in order to grieve their loss and move forward with life. Told from the perspective of College students who are just trying to survive the trials of student-life just made it even more emotional and captivating. The first half of the book and some of the characters and their activities I did struggle to understand a little. 

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I was very drawn to Clare and Henry's story, and the intriguing concept of time-travel, but there were aspects of it that did make me feel slightly uneasy looking at it from a non-romantic perspective. The ups and downs and struggles of Clare and Henry's relationship were very heartwarming and heartbreaking, yet I felt that the book was a bit too long for what it needed to do. The story towards the later half of the book dragged a little. Overall, a good book

Before I Met You by Lisa Jewell

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This was overall a really good audio listen. I actually was not expecting the storyline to go this way at all. Arlette's life and everything that she had gone through made me quite sad and emotional as I was not expecting those events to take place the way that they did. I really liked Betty's character, you can definitely see Arlette's fire living inside her.