d_ho16's reviews
106 reviews

Salt Houses by Hala Alyan

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

A beautiful, moving, sweeping generational family novel. This book is what I wanted A Woman is No Man to be. Reminiscent of Homegoing (one of my all time faves) in the way that it moves through generations and places, tracing the ties that bind throughout while building to the ending. I found myself having to flip back and forth to make sure I understood where I was in the timeline, hence the 4.5 stars, but otherwise really, really loved this book.

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

Oh, Britney. I’m so sorry that no one in your life has ever had your best interests in mind. I hope the next chapters of your life are so much better.

This was a very quick read, with some interesting insights into the world of Britney Spears and mostly just me feeling a lot of anger towards everyone who’s taken advantage of her throughout her entire life. It’s not particularly well-written or hard-hitting (especially if you’ve been around celebrity gossip sites for a while) but it’s definitely worth the read if you’re at all interested in Britney, the 90s/00s pop star machine, or celebrity gossip in general.

You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

If this had just been a novella of about the last 50 pages, it would’ve been far more compelling and interesting. Most of this book just read like a writing workshop experiment turned into a long form Jezebel-era internet essay. I do think it brings up some exceedingly important topics - queer identity in a community that isn’t necessarily accepting, the childhood experiences of a child of immigrants and refugees, mother/daughter relationships that maybe aren’t what you hoped, to name a few. And I think this author’s voice is an important one, and an oft-underrepresented corner of literature. But this book just did not land for me in the way I had hoped.

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

The pacing was better in this than the other CCs, but some of the plot lines felt halfcocked and like they only existed to give some of the characters Something To Do. I did find myself endeared towards Tharion and Ithan and their single shared brain cell orange cat energy, after not really enjoying them in the previous book. I have really loved Bryce for most of this series, but she felt underdeveloped in this and also like SJM was trying to make her more like Aelin which just…didn’t quite vibe with how I’ve seen Bryce up to this point. All that said, I did really, really enjoy this book - which is not that surprising because I am a Ruhn and Lidia stan and they absolutely CARRIED this book. I also liked the crossover aspect and the bonus chapters that address it were really fun. If you’re expecting an ACOTAR book, you’ll be disappointed, but if you’ve enjoyed CC so far you’ll probably like this one too.

Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

3.5

Good on Jill for telling her side of (some of) the story. And for seeing a therapist!! There’s plenty that got left out here, but it’s clear she’s doing a little deconstruction even though she’s got a long ways to go. The writing isn’t amazing, but you really get a sense of her feelings as everything spirals out of control. Wholly glosses over Derick’s transphobic tweets, though, but I can’t say I’m surprised. 

And also: fuck Jim Bob Duggar I hope that shitstain rots in hell 💖

Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper by Hilary Liftin

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

In my "thinly veiled celebrity fanfiction" era, I guess. This was a fun, quick read about a girl next door type actress falling in love with a mega movie star who’s involved in a questionable cult… definitely not hard to figure out who it was inspired by. This book was mostly fluff reading but had a few moments of really resounding emotion as Lizzie took stock of her life and how she ended up where she was. It had the potential to get really horrifying a few times but just never quite hit the emotional beats it felt like it was aiming for. A solid beach read, and while it focuses more on the celebrity gossip than the culty parts, as someone who enjoys books about both those things it was definitely worth the few hours I spent reading. 

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

The format suffershere as a handful of new characters get introduced, and the voices get lost a bit. This is a solid close to the series, but feels a bit more bogged down than the first two, and doesn’t read quite as fast or as exciting. Still a good conclusion to a wonderful series, though, and I will miss these characters quite a bit.

Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

The characters are all kind of one-note, and the story spends too much time on Lauren being sad and then feels super rushed through not being as sad anymore. But I found myself cheering for the characters anyways, and definitely had more feelings than I expected to about this book. Perfect beach vacation read.

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

It took me a while to settle into the interview format, but once it clicked for me it was smooth sailing the entire time. This book is a great first entry in a trilogy - while some details are definitely (purposefully) missing it sets up for a continuation really well, and I am very excited to read the rest of the trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Body horror