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ellieb_reads's Reviews (186)
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Oh my, I really loved this book. It is beautifully written, the characters have real depth, and the premise is a fun one. The through-line of Clementine’s grief is heartbreakingly realistic, and the romance felt like exactly the right balance of both cheesy and sexy without overdoing it on either. I also enjoyed that the book spent ample time in her regular life outside the apartment and not just the romance, as the side characters and subplots were compelling too. I cried happy tears and sad tears, and I’m almost a little bummed that I read it in one day because I didn’t get to enjoy it for longer. Can’t wait to get my hands on Poston’s latest, but this one will be hard to beat.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Okay I see the less-than-glowing reviews, but I’m sorry this was SO entertaining. The concept was totally new, and the characters were caricatures in a way that really worked for me. Honestly I’d give 5 stars for the villain alone because holy crap fuck that dude. Some reviews criticize that this wasn’t a mystery and we knew who the bad guy was all along - True! And that’s why this is a *thriller* and not a mystery. An early identification of the villain didn’t take away from the excitement of the story for me. The book does have a somewhat slow start, but I got into it pretty quickly and then couldn’t put it down. I am by no means a Ruth Ware stan at present (I HATED Turn of the Key, and I actually can’t remember if I’ve read some of her earlier titles, even looking at the synopses to jog my memory), so this isn’t author bias here, which I admittedly have with some. My favorite thriller of the year so far, and perhaps I’ll go back and read some of those older books to see if they measure up.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
I confess myself confused by the 5 stars reviews because I found this so boring. I guessed every single “twist” before the reveal. I did enjoy the multiple settings and the “chase” feel of the story. The premise could have been great, but the plot was super predictable, and all of the characters felt very flat. I wasn’t really rooting for anyone because the book only gave a surface-level picture of the characters - likely because we got POV chapters from far too many of them. I also think some of the references in the book were very obviously opinions of the author on current pop culture, and in particular what he doesn’t like. And what he doesn’t like seems to be a lot of stuff that women enjoy - gross. I didn’t love The Night Shift either (though not as bad as this), so I think I’m done with Finlay. For anyone expecting a quality thriller, I’ll just say that if this was a page-turner, it’s only because I really wanted to move on to my next read.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I was really excited to read this and honestly found it pretty disappointing. There was just waaaaay too much going on here. So many different POVs, different timelines, and different locations, it was difficult to get settled in the book. The “big reveal” was obvious right away, making the ending of the book super anti-climatic. There were characters and storylines that were completely unnecessary (what was the point of Martha???), and several storylines managed to feel very rushed and agonizingly drawn out at the same time. And the writing was just okay for me. I did really enjoy the footnotes, surprised to find how much I learned reading this! The luxury brand/famous people name-dropping was actually entertaining and almost felt satirical at times (I think). And Arabella was a phenomenal villain. But, not my favorite read but not totally unenjoyable.
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I hate to give this only 3 stars given the author’s personal connection to the story, but it just wasn’t my favorite. This was alllll over the place. There were far too many secondary and tertiary threads that added nothing to the story for me. For the first 40ish pages of the book I had no idea what I was reading. The present day plot was interesting and romantic, but felt rather rushed. The flashbacks bounced around a bit too much to follow, but these were definitely the parts of the novel I liked the best. I wanted more of Kate and Cam’s history! The author is a brilliant writer, and her prose about grief is incredibly powerful. Perhaps the chaos of the book is a reflection of how such a big loss upends your life. For me, this one was just okay, but I’ll certainly check out more from her in the future.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This book has everything - history, romance, sci-fi, humor. I laughed, I sobbed, I turned pages furiously because I was so anxious to read what happened next. The ending was perfect and devastating. It was a little chaotic at times and definitely a slow burn at others, so the pacing might not be for everyone, but I loved this book so much.
(ps Fuck everyone who left 1 star reviews accusing this author of plagiarism *before the book was even released* after reading only the title and the book jacket blurb. This is not even remotely like the TV show, and you all suck.)
(ps Fuck everyone who left 1 star reviews accusing this author of plagiarism *before the book was even released* after reading only the title and the book jacket blurb. This is not even remotely like the TV show, and you all suck.)
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This was a pretty delightful read! The concept was fun and clever, and the comedy was really strong. This isn’t a romance, which is what I was expecting. It ends up being much more about main character Lauren and her relationship with dating - some fun social commentary there, and the allegory to swiping on dating apps was very clear. I did wish that there had been more exploration of the magic behind the attic. I loved the twist halfway through, but again, I wanted to know what prompted the magic in the first place! I found the ending a little abrupt and underwhelming, but I’m also not sure how else it could have ended. Overall a fun, whimsical read!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
It’s possible this just went over my head and I’m not the kind of reader that gets what this book was doing, but I did not like this at all. The writing was good, but the lack of plot made it feel incredibly repetitive. Annie (the robot) was an interesting protagonist, but I felt like the book underdelivered on what could have been a really unique character study - mostly because it focused so much on Annie’s constant need to please Doug (her owner). And Doug was an absolutely insufferable, abusive asshole, and if I was supposed to have empathy for him I could not muster it. The ending was about as anti-climactic as they come, and I was left really disappointed. I am utterly confused how anyone could characterize this as “feminist,” as nothing about this felt empowering. Again, maybe I just don’t “get it,” but this one was not it for me.