I went in with high hopes. While Beauty Slept is right up my alley — fairytale retelling, political intrigue, mysterious acts that may(?) be magic, narrated by an outsider who’s not as outside the center as believed? Sign me up!

Pros:
1. Prose — Blackwell has a talent for writing in a more old-fashioned, formal style. Its appropriateness was perfect, given her take on this ancient tale. Many of her sentences were quite pretty, as well.
2. Descriptions — In addition to her lovely sentences, Blackwell’s descriptions are vivid — enchanting and horrifying as appropriate, but always effective and enriching.
3. Complexity in romantic relationship dynamics — I felt that the romantic relationships and romantic dynamics between characters, from a married Marcus and still-single Elise, to the king and queen, to Elise and Dorian, to Mayren and the coachman whose name at present escapes me, were realistic and accurate in their complexities. Elise and Dorian have both loved and lost — but they still like and later love each other. Elise breaks Marcus’ heart, but upon meeting him years later, the two can be civil and know they’ll always care for one another, despite everything that happened.

They even make up entirely!

Brava for that, Ms. Blackwell!

Cons:
1. Uneven pacing and author investment — This book started so strong. I cared about the characters I met, and I was intrigued by the questions the opening raised. But once Rose was born, the story dragged. The dramatic change in pace bored me so badly, I either read at most three pages at a time before I couldn’t stand it and/or didn’t care enough to continue, or I’d plow through twenty or thirty pages, because surely something would happen soon. Eventually, though, I’d realize nothing was going to occur despite the number of pages I’d just read. After these marathon (they felt like marathons) sessions, I’d put the book down without picking it back up again until weeks later.
2. Foreshadow much? — I understand that Elise is recounting this story decades after its events, but true or not I felt that asides along the lines of, “if I’d only known…” or, “things were good, but not for long; dark days loomed ahead,” appeared at least every other page or so. I wanted to bang my head against a wall every time these sentiments appeared. First, this method of foreshadowing is the most elementary, so to have it recurring every few pages screamed “inexperienced and clumsy” author - at best.
If used sparingly and selectively, this type of foreshadowing can effectively build suspense. But the author’s overuse of it, especially in overtly happy scenes, only dampened any and all joy for the reader. The inevitable, plentiful ominous proclamations dampened, dulled, and darkened every happy passage. Applying obvious foreshadowing to every single happy moment prevents those moments from uplifting the reader enough that when things do take a turn for the worse, they affect her in any significant way.
3. Knowing one’s audience — while the intimate scenes weren’t explicit, I couldn’t help but remember the premise of the tale: Elise, recounting this story to her 14-year-old great-granddaughter. I wouldn’t want to hear about sexual encounters in any capacity from anyone I’m related to, let alone as a 14-year-old girl. Elise definitely needed to be reminded of who her audience was and what would be appropriate to share.

I ended up skimming the last 130+ pages of this book, just to say I’d finished it. While Beauty Slept had so much potential, and realized very little of it.

Overall, ehhh.

Content Warnings

Beyond the Moon by Catherine Taylor

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Content Warnings

Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain by Margaret Willson

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Captain Thurídur is a hero, for so many reasons. She was a woman ahead of her time - ahead of the decades - the century, even - after her life.
I think this is the first book I've read depicting a real, once-living woman so capable, intelligent, skilled, principled, astute, charming, hardworking, tenacious, athletic, righteous, and deeply, deeply kind. And now that I've tasted the perfect fruit from that vine, I'll crave it and search for it forever.
Willson successfully depicts Captain Thurídur's personality; I feel as though I know Thurídur, the real person, and that I am greatly blessed to know her at all. Captain Thurídur preferred to dress in men's clothing, but identified as a woman, and the people around her accepted that - a refreshing reaction to encounter, especially from a true story. She was the best of the best in her career, but she was also a principled and compassionate person, who charmed, amused, and supported those around her.
Some of the writing left a little to be desired; for one, Willson used rather too much passive voice. Some of her word choices were weak, and some of her sentences could've used semantic improvements. Overall, though, her writing was solid and easy to read - yet another refreshing occurrence, given Willson's career in academia.
I think my favorite thing about the author, Margaret Willson, was that she saw a little-known area of history in this woman - this woman who deserved so much more than she was given in life and in the years after her death - and not only researched Captain Thurídur, her life and accomplishments, but also wrote it all down in a compelling narrative to share with the world at large. Thank you, Ms. Willson, for giving the world a rich text about a treasure of a woman!

Man's Search for Meaning : An Introduction to Logotherapy by Viktor E. Frankl

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Funny Feelings by Tarah DeWitt

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Much to love here!

I’m a big fan of the friends to lovers, single dad, grumpy-sunshine, and workplace romance tropes. I’m not a fan of the fake dating trope usually, but when it’s two besties who’ve been pining after one another for years? That, apparently, is the fake-dating scenario for me!

I know it was frustrating that these two didn’t fully confess their feelings for years, but honestly, I felt it was beyond realistic. I’d definitely believe two best friends did the same in reality, especially two best friends with a professional relationship, and even more so if one of them is a single parent. Also, their repressing their feelings and rationalizing away each other’s signs was really the only instance of the miscommunication trope, so often over-utilized and poorly (annoyingly) done. I will admit that this particular miscommunication was a major through-line for most of the story, but again, it was incredibly believable, so I forgave it. Additionally, Meyer and Farley were otherwise fabulous communicators, which is just *chefs kiss.*

The Deaf representation was awesome! I loved that Farley was already fluent in ASL before meeting Meyer and Hazel. I felt that her learning ASL was both a ringing endorsement for and an effective normalization of studying the language, which more people should do (myself included). Hazel was so smart and funny, but still realistic. Meyer was a dad doing his best — and his best meant he was a great father in general. Hazel and Farley’s relationship was lovely — I wanted a little more of it, even though the story was about Farley and Meyer. I simply demand more Hazel, and more Hazel and Farley time!

Farley’s character growth throughout the novel was a joy to see. She was always unapologetically herself (love!), but to see her gain confidence in her abilities, and receive much-deserved support and success were both wonderful too. Also, women supporting women is the best! For Shauna and Kara (and Farley) to do so in a competitive, male-dominated field was a delight. They refused to be pitted against each other, supported and respected each other, and enjoyed each other’s company.

All stories have flaws, so here’s the handful I encountered in Funny Feelings:

The main characters’ names were odd. I understand their first and last names made reference to famous comedians, but I just didn’t like them. (That said, the nicknames they used with each other were adorable! “Fee,” and “My?” Or Meyer calling Farley by her last name — “Jones,” “Jonesy,” etc?? SO cute!)
I felt that Farley’s relationship with her father, especially after her mother passed, was woefully underdeveloped. Her dad was mentioned three times: he showed up once, and Farley addressed their relationship in one of her POV chapters, and she discussed him with Meyer in one of Meyer's POV chapters. I think the author should’ve committed more fully to fleshing out their dynamic, or should’ve said even less about it. Honestly, the story function performed by her father's character could've been done more concisely and effectively without him, perhaps using the misogyny and sexism faced by female comedians writ large. It could've been another (perhaps potential) manager that led Meyer to take Farley on as a client spur-of-the-moment.
The details and descriptions of the intimate scenes were inconsistent. The author would write perfect erotica, without being explicit or crass, but then the description would become much more vague. I just wanted consistency — either a continuation of the more detailed descriptions, or the use of more vague language — throughout the book.

In all, fun and emotional and heartwarming. I had so much fun reading this, and felt satisfied by the story when I finished it. Funny Feelings is, I think, the first romance I’ve read that didn’t overuse or misuse the miscommunication trope, and had relatable characters with realistic dynamics, and fleshed out more than just the two leads, all in the same novel. Brava!

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gracescanlon's reviews 689 reviews

gracescanlon's reviews
689 reviews