Scan barcode
firstimpressionsreviews's reviews
593 reviews
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home by Nando Parrado, Vince Rause
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
A fellow Book of the Month member loaned Transcendent Kingdom to me years ago and I am finally just getting around to reading it. As I say with most of my tbr why did I wait so long?
The novel is addicting in more ways than one. Yaa Gyasi effortlessly navigated between the present day and Gifty’s childhood, exploring how her differences in color, nationality, and religion impacted her life as well as the perception of her brother’s overdose.
Transcendent Kingdom starts off slowly, drawing the reader in with a narrative that is similar to Jean Louise Finch reflecting on her childhood. Like Scout, Gifty learns the hard truths of the world through experience at a young age and I found the tone intoxicating to read. Yaa Gyasi’s writing is beautiful and uses every word to her advantage. I also listened to part of Transcendent Kingdom on audio because Bahni Turpin and, as usual, it only enhanced the experience.
The novel is addicting in more ways than one. Yaa Gyasi effortlessly navigated between the present day and Gifty’s childhood, exploring how her differences in color, nationality, and religion impacted her life as well as the perception of her brother’s overdose.
Transcendent Kingdom starts off slowly, drawing the reader in with a narrative that is similar to Jean Louise Finch reflecting on her childhood. Like Scout, Gifty learns the hard truths of the world through experience at a young age and I found the tone intoxicating to read. Yaa Gyasi’s writing is beautiful and uses every word to her advantage. I also listened to part of Transcendent Kingdom on audio because Bahni Turpin and, as usual, it only enhanced the experience.
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
medium-paced
2.5
Career of Evil is the third book in the Cormoran Strike series and unfortunately, it will probably be my last. I enjoyed the book’s two predecessors however, this installment was long-winded with a backstory that felt unnecessary or had already been touched on in a previous novel.
At times Career of Evil felt more novelesque than mystery, almost as if the author forgot what genre they were writing and would throw in a dismembered limb for shock value. I wanted to like this novel but with the poor attempt at character development and a mystery that got lost in the thick of it, it wasn’t easy to get into.
I was hoping the ending would redeem itself, but sadly, there was no a-ha moment with a lackluster reveal that felt forced. I had to slog my way through to the end of Career of Evil and only felt relief when I had finished.
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Reckless Girls is an interesting, modern-day take on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.
Reckless Girls is an interesting, modern-day take on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.
Review in bullet points:
- Rachel Hawkins takes care in the development of the goings-on on the island and like Lost each passenger has a unique backstory before they arrived on the island. I really liked this as it helped the reader understand the persons on board, no matter how despicable.
- Lux was an unreliable narrator, therefore, creating a kind of chaos. Much like the film Memento, at times I was left questioning what was and wasn’t real.
- Like fireworks on the 4th of July the first half of the plot included a lot of build-up to the grand finale.
- While Reckless Girls was a quick read it took a while to get there. I felt that a little too much time was spent thrashing around the island and that the murders could have been sped up.
- Reckless Girls had an M. Night Shyamalan ending. It caught me off guard but, if I had looked closer the clues were there, just like Bruce Willis’ fate.
- Barrie Kreinik was an excellent narrator. Kreinik has a lovely tone that only enhances the reading (or listening) experience.
Rachel Hawkins has written a thrilling, psychological beach read that captures the reader from the first sentence.
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Reader, I murdered her.
The Wife Upstairs is all over the place. Is it gothic, a rom-com, or a thriller? In truth, it is probably all three. Being a retelling of Jane Eyre, the novel had a lot to live up to. Rachel Hawkins made sure to have parallels for the Jane Eyre fan to recognize but, they did not hit you in the face and therefore left the book to stand on its own.
However, unlike the classic Jane Eyre which, is a gothic romance to its core The Wife Upstairs had Big Little Lies vibes. It felt like a rom-com with twists added in. Like Big Little Lies Hawkin’s novel had wealthy housewives who craved gossip and scandal with our down-on-her-luck heroine breaking into the group only to stir the pot more.
I enjoyed the evolving relationship between Jane and Eddie. The dialogue between them set the tone for the book, letting the reader know when the plot was about to thicken.
Unfortunately, knowing the plot for Jane Eyre is a downfall; as I had a sense of where the devious twists and turns would take The Wife Upstairs. Although, it did not detract from the journey or climatic end. Rachel Hawkins has created a wonderfully messed up retelling of Jane Eyre with this reader engrossed until the very end.
The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story of a women with postpartum depression. However, as it is the 1800s her husband assumes it is “nerves” and that she is slowly going mad. The story takes places in the space of one room with you guessed it — yellow wallpaper. Her desent and obesseion with the room’s decor leads the plot and held my attention, until the abrupt ending. The Yellow Wallpaper was well written and reminded me of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. My one complaint is that I wasn’t crazy about the narrator, Cathy Dobson. Her voice was a little wobbly and it was almost as if it was being played by a victrola. Overall, I enjoyed this small sampling to a classic horror tale,
March by Geraldine Brooks
5.0
March is the story of the absentee father from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and at the ripe old age of 39 enlists for the Civil War becoming a Union chaplain and later is assigned to teach free slaves {an oxymoron I know} to read and write. Mr. March, takes center stage in this novel having Marmee and his little women play secondary characters.
March is split in two, half being memories of years gone by, remembering the courting of Marmee, the births of their children and the March's beliefs on slavery, even becoming conductors on the underground railroad. By putting their money where their mouth is, give a large sum of money to a fellow abolitionist to support the cause, but unfortunately the deal goes sour leading to the March's financial decline.
The second part brings us to Mr. March's hellish present while teaching those on a cotton plantation who are willing to read and write he is reminded of Grace, another educated slave that he had an intimate relationship with and the physical humiliation she received when taking the blame for a young slave girl who he was teaching to read and write as well. The tale climaxes at a raid from the Confederates, resulting in murder of black and white by beheading and gunshots and the recapture of freed slaves to be sold back into slavery. Meanwhile, March scrapes by with the grazing of a bullet and soon after returns home to his girls but is still, and forever haunted by the gruesome events he has witnessed.
March is split in two, half being memories of years gone by, remembering the courting of Marmee, the births of their children and the March's beliefs on slavery, even becoming conductors on the underground railroad. By putting their money where their mouth is, give a large sum of money to a fellow abolitionist to support the cause, but unfortunately the deal goes sour leading to the March's financial decline.
The second part brings us to Mr. March's hellish present while teaching those on a cotton plantation who are willing to read and write he is reminded of Grace, another educated slave that he had an intimate relationship with and the physical humiliation she received when taking the blame for a young slave girl who he was teaching to read and write as well. The tale climaxes at a raid from the Confederates, resulting in murder of black and white by beheading and gunshots and the recapture of freed slaves to be sold back into slavery. Meanwhile, March scrapes by with the grazing of a bullet and soon after returns home to his girls but is still, and forever haunted by the gruesome events he has witnessed.