eliya's reviews
115 reviews

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

much different vibe than the first book, felt like this was a sequel just to have a sequel. the chance in pace and characters was jarring, and this lost all what was great about the first book. 
  • the voice acting was still good, but this felt like the story was rushed and a little repetitive where the characters over lapped, if we had one or even two POVs (april, non-april) we would have saved a lot of time. 
  • story itself felt phoned in and predictable, where the first was creative, new, and exciting, this one fell flat and wanting. there were some exciting bits, but ultimately the ending was predictable and cheesy. 
  • Also spoiler
    what was the point of this? I understand the analogy of AI and how quickly it’s developing, but what was the point of the “alien invasion” vs “success rate” if at the end they just wind up destroying it? What was Carl send for if not for humans to learn a lesson in teamwork? A little lame payoff.

All in all, disappointing and completely different from the first book. I was so excited 😢
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Perfect sci fi. 

Very interesting, easy to digest. Voice acting done VERY well I found myself in a little panic towards the end that the voice actor from the first novel wouldn’t be joining us in the sequel, but I’m so glad it’s the same person 😭.

An unlikeable main character, a creative twist to
alien invation
. Not a huge fan of
lying as a plot device
, definitely takes me out of it, but all in all this is just about exactly what I like in a book. Thinking I might not like the sequel as much as the first just by starting it like 3% but we’ll see lol. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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

4.0

Historical fictions are difficult for me, and this one was beautifully written. I loved following two people as they grow up, I found it very interesting and informative the different ways in which they interacted with and experienced the war. Heartbreakingly told, such incredible detail done in every moment. 

I think this is a book I would not recommend the audiobook for - I found myself getting too distracted on the small details and had to go back several times. I started the beginning chapters probably thrice. Although, Zach Appelman does an incredible job - there was so much consistency throughout the 16 hours I was astonished. 

I learned a lot about radios and sound waves and science. I learned more about WWII.

I particularly enjoyed
the story about the Sea of Flames, I listened to that probably three times it was so fantastical..
  I savored Yutta’s story as much as I possibly could. I found her fascinating. Verner
:-( I totally get why he had to die but :-( did he really have to. I get that he did some bad things and made some bad choices but 😭 I wanted them together so badly.


Liked this book a lot, other than the out of no where horrificly anti-fat descriptions of fat people lol. I am excited to see what Netflix does with it. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

Go to review page

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

0.0

R*PE IS NOT SEXY.

This book is kink for people who don’t understand the consensual trust between sexual partners. A person who thinks that raunchy sex can only exist completely opposite to their understanding of sex. It made me really sad to read this book. I was really excited for creepy, scary kink and this book let me down.

The plot of the book is boring,
I don’t care about the grandmas murder, the killer was obvious.


The book is too long, 600 pages of the main character “i don’t like it… i shouldn’t like it… but i do” over and over and over again made me want to slam my head through a wall get new material 

The characters are poorly written, Adeline is so obviously the author, Zade is so self-righteous about his conflicting morals — stalking a women “i’d never hit a woman” ass bitch while hitting and choking addie??? 

Below are direct quotes from the book - 

"If you were my little girl, I would worship every inch of your body for as long as our souls are tethered to this earth. My tongue would leave no part of you untouched." pg. 342 

“‘Stop it’ she pants, but don't listen. She swats at me, but those tiny hands: no match against mine.“ pg. 344

“But I know that I would've woken up the next day and hated myself. Because I would've slept with a stalker, a murderer and a man who has forced himself on me on several occasions. I would've slept with a man who doesn't respect my boundaries, my personal space, or the word no.” pg. 409

“she shrieks, her voice pitched so high, it nearly makes me cringe. God. Fucking women and their screeching.” pg 442

“A wicked smile forms, though the heat in my eyes remains. "Sounds to me like you don't understand a woman's body well enough to know when it sings for you, even when her mouth tries to resist." pg. 531

fuck this book. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

Go to review page

adventurous challenging funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

beautifully written. blew through this in about 3.5 hours, the pacing was sooo refreshing and added to the tension of the story. i absolutely adored the way that mrs caliban was written, specifically in the beginning when she’s making dinners. the comedic timing of the first few chapters is spot on, very silly and i thoroughly enjoyed it. this book definitely crosses maybe four genres / moods in such a short time. efficient read for sure. 
Normal People by Sally Rooney

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

This is written so beautifully. The narration is so heartbreakingly aware of minute details that make interactions meaningful. There were so many times listening to this book that I thought “yes!! that!!” at something that i’ve experienced interpersonally and wasn’t able to verbalize myself before. 

The chapters are written not like a story, but like a painful memory that the author is recounting for us as we try to understand what went wrong, where. This felt so real to me. 

Listening to the audiobook was a treat, the vocal performance was as stunning and empathetic. I plan on obtaining a copy of this book for myself and rereading it in a few years, just long enough so that I can forget enough of it to love it a second time. I loved this book. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More Love Less Conflict: A Communication Playbook for Couples (Couples Gift for High Conflict Couples, for Readers of Hold Me Tight, Communicat by Jonathan Robinson

Go to review page

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

2.0

some solid, helpful techniques 
written really tackily. he spends the first chunk of the book defending the book and talking himself, the book, and the concepts up. 

 rant warning -
few of the concepts work because of different reasons but he tries to package it as a gendered thing. for example, one concept in chapter 5(?) he says that men in order to be more sexually attractive to their partner need to reconnect with their masculinity. go outside, talk with guy friends, lift weights. and women need to reconnect with their femininity; do their make up more, go to a dance class, show love for their friends. and like yeah these concepts will work but not for the reasons he’s saying. exercise and developing other personal relationships will make you just happier in general regardless of gender.


half way through the book he remembers gay people exist 
tells some wild stories that some how relate to his points, very hard to believe. 

this book would have been a lot better if it was the same concepts (but only the genuine ones), same chapter distribution, but less him trying to sell me on the concepts. i’m reading the book. i trust you already. 
i did not really remember enough of the techniques to use them, but i did come up with a technique of my own recently in my relationship and it make me think back to this book. 
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

Go to review page

challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.0

it’s written like a typical “there is this guy who had a hard time being a guy, and then he thought of this value that I’m teaching you now and then suddenly he was famous. That was Buddha.” dial writing but all in all some pretty good concepts that it’s nice to be reminded of once in a while, put in a relatively lighthearted way. well, I’m not gonna like buy the book highlight every phrase, etc., I did enjoy my read and got some helpful insights from it.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Some seriously cringy bits, rough start, and some pretty obvious self-insertion going on here BUT I did have fun with it and it didn’t feel like a waste of time. Might read on.

this book steals from // has VERY dicey parallels to: 
- Beauty and the Beast 
- Hunger Games
- Sword of Truth
- Stardust 
- Cinderella 😭😭🙈
Circe by Madeline Miller

Go to review page

adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective relaxing medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

Loved this book. This one felt similar to Matrix by Lauren Goff just the way it followed a woman through her life, I loved that. I wasn’t expecting the book to keep growing, but it did. The last chapter was delicious and
made me hope to live again. I have been feeling idk less than thrilled to be alive, but I will swim in the words she wrote so beautifully about savoring growing old. I can’t wait to grow old with my beautiful love.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings