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foxglovefiction's reviews
1335 reviews
Death on the Sapphire by R.J. Koreto
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston
5.0
I love Vance to a degree that I cannot explain. His love of dating sims and Howl-esque tendencies have captured my heart!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
The Mysterious Plasticity of Trees by Charlotte Noble
3.0
Summer, 2008 -- 21-year-old Tess Morrow feels herself on the verge, working as an intern at Vanity Fair and having casual flings with older men by night. The world, too, is near the edge of a long, intoxicating night, with the heady seductiveness of the Manhattan elite on one side; and on the other, the idyll of the ivory tower, where the young and beautiful pore over books by day, and dance and drink until dawn.
Precocious yet naive, cynical yet tender, Tess's self-discipline is put to the test when she falls for a married filmmaker with dazzling charms. Fleeing his advances, Tess returns to Princeton, determined to make good of her final year; but before long, she finds herself losing grip on everything she cherishes, alone before a world that has changed overnight. And through her struggles with sex, money, career, and friendship, Tess discovers the family secret that finally reveals the truth about herself, in an unexpected and haunting conclusion.
I got a copy of this in the mail after being contacted by Charlotte Noble through my book blog (http://literateceillie.tumblr.com) and being asked to review it.
The Mysterious Plasticity of Trees seems (and is, actually) a strange title for a book about a Princeton student/graduate, but it brings in an interesting part of the book, and it’s definitely memorable. The book was paced fairly well, if a bit slow for me.
The main character, Tess Morrow, was someone I probably would have been friends with if it weren’t for her tendency to sleep with men who were taken. I get that she was drunk the one time, but the other… not my cup of tea. Daniel drove me crazy. No one could pretend he was happy in his marriage, whether he was “born a cheater” or not. I feel like maybe the author hasn’t found
The Mysterious Plasticity of Trees was realistic, and well written. I totally loved the descriptions of the places, and I wouldn’t mind seeing some of Tess’s artwork. However, the ending really came out of nowhere, and it felt like it didn’t make sense with what we knew about the characters, which is what brought the book down to three stars for me.
Precocious yet naive, cynical yet tender, Tess's self-discipline is put to the test when she falls for a married filmmaker with dazzling charms. Fleeing his advances, Tess returns to Princeton, determined to make good of her final year; but before long, she finds herself losing grip on everything she cherishes, alone before a world that has changed overnight. And through her struggles with sex, money, career, and friendship, Tess discovers the family secret that finally reveals the truth about herself, in an unexpected and haunting conclusion.
I got a copy of this in the mail after being contacted by Charlotte Noble through my book blog (http://literateceillie.tumblr.com) and being asked to review it.
The Mysterious Plasticity of Trees seems (and is, actually) a strange title for a book about a Princeton student/graduate, but it brings in an interesting part of the book, and it’s definitely memorable. The book was paced fairly well, if a bit slow for me.
The main character, Tess Morrow, was someone I probably would have been friends with if it weren’t for her tendency to sleep with men who were taken. I get that she was drunk the one time, but the other… not my cup of tea. Daniel drove me crazy. No one could pretend he was happy in his marriage, whether he was “born a cheater” or not. I feel like maybe the author hasn’t found
The Mysterious Plasticity of Trees was realistic, and well written. I totally loved the descriptions of the places, and I wouldn’t mind seeing some of Tess’s artwork. However, the ending really came out of nowhere, and it felt like it didn’t make sense with what we knew about the characters, which is what brought the book down to three stars for me.
Lingerie Wars by Janet Elizabeth Henderson
3.0
Englishman Lake Benson loaned his life savings to his dippy sister so that she could buy a shop. It was a big mistake. His sister has been steadily flushing his money down the drain – and now he wants it back. Years in the special forces taught Lake that if you want a job done, do it yourself. So he steps in to make the shop profitable, sell it and get his money back. The only problem is, the business is an underwear shop. And all Lake knows about underwear can be summed up in how fast he can unsnap a bra. To make matters worse, the tiny highland town already has a lingerie shop. A successful one, run by an ex-lingerie model. A very gorgeous ex-lingerie model, who’s distracting him from his mission more than he’d like to admit. If Lake wants to get his savings back, and get out of Scotland, he only has one option – wipe out the competition.
Kirsty Campbell has spent years rebuilding her life after she woke up in hospital in Spain to find her body scarred, and her ex-fiance had run off with all her money. The last thing she needs is a cocky, English soldier-boy trying to ruin all she has left. Her home town is only too happy to help her fight the latest English invasion, although Lake is beginning to sway them with his sex appeal and cut price knickers. With the help of her mother, and the retired ladies of Knit or Die, Kirsty sets about making sure that her shop is the last one standing in Invertary.
It’s Scotland versus England as you’ve never seen it before. It’s a lingerie war.
Lingerie Wars was an entertaining read – lightly comedic, semi-romantic (I’m not particularly a fan of the “I’m handsome/beautiful and you are also hot/beautiful therefore you have to fall in love with me” romance plot.), and witty most of the time.
My favorite character was Betty – the 86-year-old “Betty’s Knicker Emporium” underwear mascot. She was massively entertaining, and while she would have annoyed me in real life, I found her unwillingness to give up on the lingerie war hilarious.
I felt horrible for Rainne that she had to be pulled through the tug-of-war between her brother and her parents, and one of my problems with this book was that there was no resolution for her – no sign of where she’s going, nothing. I’m assuming that, since the author plans to turn this into a series, one of the next books will be about Rainne and where she ends up.
The book was enjoyable, but not my favorite, so I’ve rated it 3 stars out of 5.
Kirsty Campbell has spent years rebuilding her life after she woke up in hospital in Spain to find her body scarred, and her ex-fiance had run off with all her money. The last thing she needs is a cocky, English soldier-boy trying to ruin all she has left. Her home town is only too happy to help her fight the latest English invasion, although Lake is beginning to sway them with his sex appeal and cut price knickers. With the help of her mother, and the retired ladies of Knit or Die, Kirsty sets about making sure that her shop is the last one standing in Invertary.
It’s Scotland versus England as you’ve never seen it before. It’s a lingerie war.
Lingerie Wars was an entertaining read – lightly comedic, semi-romantic (I’m not particularly a fan of the “I’m handsome/beautiful and you are also hot/beautiful therefore you have to fall in love with me” romance plot.), and witty most of the time.
My favorite character was Betty – the 86-year-old “Betty’s Knicker Emporium” underwear mascot. She was massively entertaining, and while she would have annoyed me in real life, I found her unwillingness to give up on the lingerie war hilarious.
I felt horrible for Rainne that she had to be pulled through the tug-of-war between her brother and her parents, and one of my problems with this book was that there was no resolution for her – no sign of where she’s going, nothing. I’m assuming that, since the author plans to turn this into a series, one of the next books will be about Rainne and where she ends up.
The book was enjoyable, but not my favorite, so I’ve rated it 3 stars out of 5.
Only Everything by Kieran Scott
1.0
I'm not finishing this one because I can't bring myself to pick up the book again. I picked it up on a whim, and it was a bad life decision for me. The main character is whiny and annoying, and none of the side characters are interesting as of like 100 pages into the book. I'm out.
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald
3.0
As the Goodreads summary states, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend is really a book about books. For me, the books were the starring character, unless you count Amy Harris, who is never even truly present in the novel.
Sara, the Swedish main character, has spent the last ten years working part time in a bookstore and not really living. After befriending an older Iowan woman named Amy Harris via handwritten letters, Sara decides to vacation with her in her very small town named Broken Wheel. Only, when she arrives for her vacation, she learns that Amy has passed away. Despite this, she decides to stay for her vacation, because the town informs her that it is "what Amy would have wanted."
Sara falls in love - with the town and its inhabitants, and one inhabitant in particular. The town falls in love with her as well. However, I failed to fall in love with Sara. She was skilled with recommending books to people, but that was really her best quality. Nt much else about her was ever explored, despite the book being more than 300 pages. I felt like the romance was really forced, and the town scheme was more than a little ridiculous.
However, there were a lot of good moments to this story. There were quotes I loved, and the letters from Amy were amazing and felt so real. I loved Andy and Carl, and the small town atmosphere, but this book really didn't stand out to me. I really enjoyed the cover, as well. It wasn't bad, but it was just not the book for me, leaving it at a solid 3 star rating.
Sara, the Swedish main character, has spent the last ten years working part time in a bookstore and not really living. After befriending an older Iowan woman named Amy Harris via handwritten letters, Sara decides to vacation with her in her very small town named Broken Wheel. Only, when she arrives for her vacation, she learns that Amy has passed away. Despite this, she decides to stay for her vacation, because the town informs her that it is "what Amy would have wanted."
Sara falls in love - with the town and its inhabitants, and one inhabitant in particular. The town falls in love with her as well. However, I failed to fall in love with Sara. She was skilled with recommending books to people, but that was really her best quality. Nt much else about her was ever explored, despite the book being more than 300 pages. I felt like the romance was really forced, and the town scheme was more than a little ridiculous.
However, there were a lot of good moments to this story. There were quotes I loved, and the letters from Amy were amazing and felt so real. I loved Andy and Carl, and the small town atmosphere, but this book really didn't stand out to me. I really enjoyed the cover, as well. It wasn't bad, but it was just not the book for me, leaving it at a solid 3 star rating.