hannaelisab's reviews
29 reviews

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

a very fun & deeply relatable (ouch) summer read, that deciphers what friendship means & how it can change due to one single event. 

The Girls by Emma Cline

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i liked the prose, the story itself unfortunately didn't grab me as much as i thought it would, especially because historical crime stories should be right up my alley! 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo is the book that got me back into reading after yeeeeears & i couldn't be more grateful. this one's hard to top. if ur gonna read anything, read this book - it deals with love in all forms, forbidden desire, moral ambiguity & the fame & horrors of the 50s in hollywood...evelyn hugo & her story feel so real, that i googled her name numerous times to see if she is truly fictional or a marilyn monroe-like forgotten superstar. 
i cannot wait for the movie (aka i pray to lord netflix does this novel justice & doesn't ruin it!!!)

Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

a story about judging my appearance, sadness,  loneliness, revenge & the dominance of humans over nature...along with morally great characters & a gothic setting. 

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

the design & illustrations in this book are amazing, as well as the connection to mary mclane's biography. while the story took some time for me to get into, i loved it in retrospect!! its a modern book that truly carries gothic novel qualities, which i enjoyed tremendously...also loved the aspect of a story-in a story-in a story!  triggerwarning: don't read if ur afraid of yellowjackes ;) 

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i read this book for the literary & philosophical angle more than the plot itself & i truly enjoyed it! quite easy to get into! if u, like me, love to annotate books, this one's for u. 
! note, that racist slurs & stereotypes were used by plath. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Mental illness

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

a fun, lighthearted, fast summer-beach read. nothing more, nothing less - don't except anything mind blowing or philosophical (: 

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

the prose. the morally gray character. the beauty. the art. i adore this book. oscar really did it with this one!!!

Normal People by Sally Rooney

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

i truly did not get the hype around this book for most of my reading experience tbh. i didn't rly enjoy the writing style and did not care much for  the main characters either. the last quarter of the book finally grabbed me emotionally (bc i feel as though the author went into more philosophical aspects about love & humanity  as well, which i adore), as marianne's story bore a true sadness & connells depression came so suddenly, that it finally added something to his character, that made me want to understand his inner workings. i also quite liked the melancholic-ambiguity of the ending m, i felt it matched the reflective-emotional tone if the book and the back and forth of the protagonists relationship.
all in all, it was not wort all the praise it got on its first three ( i think?) pages - but (especially the last quarter) was not bad either (: 
important: check the trigger warnings before reading!