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eitch's reviews
96 reviews
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
5.0
Ali Hazelwood owns me. She’s got me locked up and she better throw away the key because I never want to be freed.
I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did, especially because it’s for a younger audience compared to her other novels, but boy did it hook me.
I. WANT. MORE. So much more. More of this. More stories like this. More from Mallory and Nolan. More Ali Hazelwood books in general. I wish the supply was infinite.
Merry Little Hate Notes by Jennifer Peel
2.5
January has snuck up on me with a new semester starting but yes, I'm still finishing my holiday reads.
this was okay. It didn't captivate me really but I didn't dislike it either. I enjoyed my time reading it for the most part.
the male MC reads like a guy written by a woman to me (which is true and not necessarily a bad thing), and I couldn't really imagine a guy thinking or saying some of the things Brandon brings up.
I gotta say though: I enjoyed the slow-burn and the fact that they didn't get together by like 20% or chapter 3. I didn’t like however how annoying their thoughts got after they got together.
this was okay. It didn't captivate me really but I didn't dislike it either. I enjoyed my time reading it for the most part.
the male MC reads like a guy written by a woman to me (which is true and not necessarily a bad thing), and I couldn't really imagine a guy thinking or saying some of the things Brandon brings up.
I gotta say though: I enjoyed the slow-burn and the fact that they didn't get together by like 20% or chapter 3. I didn’t like however how annoying their thoughts got after they got together.
Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood
3.5
I had low expectations for this one because everyone said it was so bad, but I wanted to read it anyway because I will never skip anything Ali Hazelwood writes... and you know what? it wasn't that bad.
It was actually cute, and I liked it a lot. It's not her best but that's okay. It still made me feel lots of feels.
It was actually cute, and I liked it a lot. It's not her best but that's okay. It still made me feel lots of feels.
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
4.0
this was really cute (especially the last two chapters) but also sometimes bland and uneventful at certain points. it made for a really quick and easy read while my brain recovered from all the end-of-semester deadlines.
I also think that maybe there are some things that were lost in translation and didn’t transfer because I was confused at some point as if I had missed a paragraph or two. I guess Japanese culture and day-to-day life moves at a different pace and has different concepts of success (which also has its time tbh)
I also think that maybe there are some things that were lost in translation and didn’t transfer because I was confused at some point as if I had missed a paragraph or two. I guess Japanese culture and day-to-day life moves at a different pace and has different concepts of success (which also has its time tbh)
Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood
5.0
Ali Hazelwood has such a strong hold on me, oh my GOD!
... and now she's writing about people who work in the same industry as me???
My only complaint is that it wasn't longer.
... and now she's writing about people who work in the same industry as me???
My only complaint is that it wasn't longer.
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store by Laurie Gilmore
this was a cute, quick read. I don't really have it in me to write a full blown review about it though right now because I'm low on energy and it didn't leave enough of an impact on me to do so.
and of course there was a random mention in like the before last chapter that the female MC does krav maga, like many previous books before it *yawns* so unnecessary but for some reason all spice authors are rushing to normalise an army's training technique as a quirky hobby. always at the end after I'm almost done with the book too.
and of course there was a random mention in like the before last chapter that the female MC does krav maga, like many previous books before it *yawns* so unnecessary but for some reason all spice authors are rushing to normalise an army's training technique as a quirky hobby. always at the end after I'm almost done with the book too.
Life in Media: A Global Introduction to Media Studies by Mark Deuze
2.0
I had to read this book for a class as part of my PhD coursework so the following review is a bit more rigid and serious than my romance novel ones. The assignment was to analyse one of the assigned books and determine whether we would use it in our own classrooms as an introductory textbook for 1st year students in their undergrad. This one was the most recent of all 4, having been released a year ago while the other three were written in the 90s and 2010s so this one centers social media more.
The book is intended to be a new way for students to look at media studies from a holistic point of view, using relatable examples of everyday life and focusing on lived experiences and diverse perspectives to understand the role of media in society. From the very first page of the book, Mark Deuze makes the distinction between living with Media and living inside of Media, referring to it as all encompassing and inevitable. Media surrounds us, constitutes “our most intimate feelings and experiences”, and he argues that this has been the case for a long time. Through it we build worlds and navigate others. The author went on to provide case studies to support his claim. This is basically how every chapter is structured and the word “life” shows up in the title of every chapter.
This book didn’t feel like a textbook to me at times, but rather a manuscript and I worry it might present ideas in a dense, compact way to first-year students who just started university. My typical understanding of a textbook is that it presents an idea, provides one or more example(s) for it and then follows it by an activity or exercise the students can apply the concept to. The author draws on real-life experiences, which I enjoy, but don’t necessarily find they belong in a textbook. The book talks mostly about media as experiences, not as something tangible and measurable which I would expect to find in a first year textbook meant to teach key learnings to teenagers.
Overall, I think that the book does what it intended to in its description but not what professors want for their classrooms. In my opinion, this book, while providing crucial case studies to understand how media shapes our lives, requires some previous level of engagement with the field and isn’t suitable for first-year students who are new to the world of academia or the discipline of media studies.
The book is intended to be a new way for students to look at media studies from a holistic point of view, using relatable examples of everyday life and focusing on lived experiences and diverse perspectives to understand the role of media in society. From the very first page of the book, Mark Deuze makes the distinction between living with Media and living inside of Media, referring to it as all encompassing and inevitable. Media surrounds us, constitutes “our most intimate feelings and experiences”, and he argues that this has been the case for a long time. Through it we build worlds and navigate others. The author went on to provide case studies to support his claim. This is basically how every chapter is structured and the word “life” shows up in the title of every chapter.
This book didn’t feel like a textbook to me at times, but rather a manuscript and I worry it might present ideas in a dense, compact way to first-year students who just started university. My typical understanding of a textbook is that it presents an idea, provides one or more example(s) for it and then follows it by an activity or exercise the students can apply the concept to. The author draws on real-life experiences, which I enjoy, but don’t necessarily find they belong in a textbook. The book talks mostly about media as experiences, not as something tangible and measurable which I would expect to find in a first year textbook meant to teach key learnings to teenagers.
Overall, I think that the book does what it intended to in its description but not what professors want for their classrooms. In my opinion, this book, while providing crucial case studies to understand how media shapes our lives, requires some previous level of engagement with the field and isn’t suitable for first-year students who are new to the world of academia or the discipline of media studies.
Doctor Who - Free Comic Book Day 2017 by Alex Paknadel, Mariano Laclaustra
5.0
I like what they did this time compared to the previous 2 and how they incorporated the different regenerations of the doctor within one story rather than telling 3 mini-stories for each one of them. I liked the first 2 still, but I prefer it this way.
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
4.0
this book is a short and simple, enjoyable slice-of-life in which you read about the lives and aspirations of normal people in Japan as you go about your own life. I read it on my way to and from work for a week. It's not like my usual type of reads but it reads very smoothly and is inspiring. I read it, not really knowing what it is about, because I enjoy books about books and I lowkey (okay highkey) always wanted to be a librarian. You can somehow relate to the characters in the short stories despite not being a finance officer, retired, or having never actually worked retail in your life.
I wanted to see some explanation about why there was a lot of emphasis on the librarian being big, remarkably and unusually enormous even, but it wasn't addressed. I guess that's my only critique... this part made me uncomfortable and felt unnecessary. Why mention it at all if it isn't relevant to her abilities and the story as a whole?
"What are you looking for?" is a question that will stay with me for a while as I'm not really sure how I would answer it if I had been asked that.
I wanted to see some explanation about why there was a lot of emphasis on the librarian being big, remarkably and unusually enormous even, but it wasn't addressed. I guess that's my only critique... this part made me uncomfortable and felt unnecessary. Why mention it at all if it isn't relevant to her abilities and the story as a whole?
"What are you looking for?" is a question that will stay with me for a while as I'm not really sure how I would answer it if I had been asked that.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
4.0
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine… and so are we all.
From the outside, to other people, Eleanor is peculiar, rude, hard to deal with. She doesn’t understand her coworkers and peers, and they don’t understand her either. To me, however, as someone who has been in Eleanor’s shoes numerous times: it’s unbelievably obvious how rude and annoying they all are.
At some point, Raymond asks her if she speaks any other languages to advance her career and her answer was that she was fluent in Latin! This was the most relatable moment in the book to me.
This book has been suggested to me in the past, but I never bothered looking it up, thinking it wasn’t my cup of tea seeing as it was unlike other books I’ve read.
I went in blindly and I’m glad I did.