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gracenevitt's reviews
156 reviews
Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
3.75
cute book. did what it said it would do. a few things about it I could have lived without. such as: constant second-guessing about the other person's feelings like a middle schooler, excessive use of the word "honey", slightly annoying best friend character, etc but in general, it was really cute if you want to read a romance book about pregnancy and a person's relationships throughout that, especially a complicated one with the baby daddy. definitely enjoyed my time reading and obviously the disability rep was on point, as the author wrote the FMC to have the same disability as herself.
Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun
3.0
really cute romcom with a few more serious elements than I perhaps thought there would be. it was hard to get into because it was trying to do romance tropes but the character was extremely logical/anxious so it almost took me out of it and felt like it was telling me not to suspend my disbelief. also the coincidences were wild (which I always struggle with in books unless there's a reallllly good reason that there's that big of a coincidence). also the bouncing back and fourth from this to last christmas took me out of the story at moments. in general, I didn't love it or hate it, but I had a good time reading it and related to the main character in many ways.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
okay wow!!! I was honestly quite nervous at first because the beginning is very slow and has a lot of dense (and a little boring at times) exposition. the rest of the book though???? an absolutely thrilling paranormal romp. it turns into this twisty mystery/whodunnit that involves the other secret societies at yale, and other shady figures in and around the school. I'm so hyped to read the next 2 books in this trilogy.
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
3.75
really good thriller!! genuinely enjoyed and loved the twists at the end !!!! unfortunately there were one too many coincidences in terms of how certain characters were connected to each other, which took me out of the believability of it, but other than that, I enjoyed this thriller quite a lot and look forward to reading others by the author!
Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
4.5
this book made me CRY and LAUGH and just...... wow I related so much to this FMC that I wanted to cry and laugh even more. this book was so perfect and the audiobook narrators brought it to life in a way I am so obsessed with. definitely my favorite of the series. I love these two characters so much!!!!
Luck and Last Resorts by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
4.0
oof this one stabbed me in the heart! the similarities between these two characters and myself and a man from my past is ...... wild. really well-written rip your heart out kind of book. can't wait to see glimpses of their life in the third book!!
Horses of Fire by A.D. Rhine
soft DNF at 36% ... it's just really not calling to me idk.. there's a lot of POVs and almost nothing happening
The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre by Darcy Ash
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
If you read the plot summary, you'll essentially know exactly what the book is about, and unfortunately besides that... not much else happens. And to anyone wanting to read this I just want to emphasize how much this book is about body dysmorphia and eating disorders.
We have a dual POV story between Aiven and Fierre, two old friends, as the former is about to get coronated as Eilean-òir's prince. Essentially, it is the two of them hiding that they're in love with each other (not a spoiler: both internally admit this early on), and battling Fierre's eating disorder and its affects on him the whole entire time. I think what really hurt this book was that it didn't feel like a book about a person with an eating disorder taking on new duties as a prince, falling in love, and learning to love himself. It felt like a book about all the horrid things eating disorders can do to your body and mind, while alluding to how they are usually learned and upheld by a specific person or societal expectation at large. And then it was like a really quick resolution that didn't really feel realistic or earned? I hate writing a negative review about a book, especially when it brings up really important issues, but the way this was done just felt really sour in my mouth. All of the horrible parts of EDs were on wide display for a large part of the book, and then all of the learning/lessons at the end were totally spelled out in ways that just made the book feel a bit robotic/stilted. There was also a lot of spice, and some sex scenes that just felt kind of added in to show "what happens when you don't have respect for your body and let people do whatever they want to you" kind of thing? I don't know.. it left a weird taste in my mouth a little bit, unfortunately, although I'm sure this was not the author's intent at all (due to the trigger warnings in the front of the book).
I went into this book being really interested/intrigued at the concept and how it would play out, and the messaging just came off like really really heavy-handed in a way that I just did not connect with, unfortunately. I really hope this can be helpful to people with past or present experience with EDs, but honestly the beginning has so much raw stream of consciousness about being in the trenches of it that I could see it being really hard for someone currently struggling to actually read this book without being pretty triggered. One upside of this book was that there were some really lovely moments of description with the language surrounding their love story, and I would have loved to see more of that story play out or some other aspects of the court.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
We have a dual POV story between Aiven and Fierre, two old friends, as the former is about to get coronated as Eilean-òir's prince. Essentially, it is the two of them hiding that they're in love with each other (not a spoiler: both internally admit this early on), and battling Fierre's eating disorder and its affects on him the whole entire time. I think what really hurt this book was that it didn't feel like a book about a person with an eating disorder taking on new duties as a prince, falling in love, and learning to love himself. It felt like a book about all the horrid things eating disorders can do to your body and mind, while alluding to how they are usually learned and upheld by a specific person or societal expectation at large. And then it was like a really quick resolution that didn't really feel realistic or earned? I hate writing a negative review about a book, especially when it brings up really important issues, but the way this was done just felt really sour in my mouth. All of the horrible parts of EDs were on wide display for a large part of the book, and then all of the learning/lessons at the end were totally spelled out in ways that just made the book feel a bit robotic/stilted. There was also a lot of spice, and some sex scenes that just felt kind of added in to show "what happens when you don't have respect for your body and let people do whatever they want to you" kind of thing? I don't know.. it left a weird taste in my mouth a little bit, unfortunately, although I'm sure this was not the author's intent at all (due to the trigger warnings in the front of the book).
I went into this book being really interested/intrigued at the concept and how it would play out, and the messaging just came off like really really heavy-handed in a way that I just did not connect with, unfortunately. I really hope this can be helpful to people with past or present experience with EDs, but honestly the beginning has so much raw stream of consciousness about being in the trenches of it that I could see it being really hard for someone currently struggling to actually read this book without being pretty triggered. One upside of this book was that there were some really lovely moments of description with the language surrounding their love story, and I would have loved to see more of that story play out or some other aspects of the court.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment
All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
4.0
WOW the twist at the end had my jaw on the floor!! great penultimate book in this really dope series. I've thoroughly enjoyed the books so far although there is a fair bit of coincidence and we must suspend our disbelief slightly at it, the series is very action packed and I'll be sad to say good bye to these characters !