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hannahleelovestoread's reviews
613 reviews

Being (Sick) Enough: Thoughts on Invisible Illness, Childhood Trauma, and Living Well When Surviving Is Hard

DID NOT FINISH: 4%

I received a copy of this book on NetGalley. It was archived before I could finish it, and I didn’t have a download available to keep on my Kindle or Kindle app afterwards.

Content Warnings

Death Kindly Stopped for Me: A Book of Poetry Inspired by Emily Dickinson

Corey Elizabeth Jackson

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Death Kindly Stopped For Me by Corey Elizabeth Jackson is both a breathtaking ode to the brilliant Emily Dickinson and the chronicle of a writer’s healing journey. Divided into four sections, the book accompanies readers on a spiritual journey experienced via the written word. In part one, “Death Befriended,” Jackson explores a sentiment repeatedly explored by Dickinson; namely, that death should be accepted as a part of life. In the second section, “Kindred Spirits,” Jackson interacts with a much more heavily personified death, incorporating it into her daily life as an entity which she encounters regularly. In the third section, “Death Released,” Death’s role in the world at large — often a dangerous one vulnerable to human corruption — is explored. Section four, Soulscape, analyzes the personified death as a widely accepted part of a universal cycle.

In this phenomenal work, Jackson imitates Dickinson’s style frequently; aside from personifying death, she also ends many lines with dashes and often writes in the passive voice. One could write extensively on Jackson’s brilliant twist on Dickinson’s distinct meter, but it must suffice to say that she is, as she writes in the first poem of section one, “one of those children in [Dickinson’s] ring.” Jackson plays an active role in most of her own poetry. She is at first timid with the personification of death, telling it politely to stay away and come another time. But she takes readers on a deeply moving and spiritual journey, one which is clearly personal due to the notes before the individual poems inspired by the life events of others. Grief, illness, and more are on display, and at the heartbreaking crescendo of her suffering, Jackson pens, “My willing soul is wooed by death…I’ll soon in dateless splendor be.” Ultimately, though, the quiet resilience for which Dickinson is so well-known prevails in Jackson as well. “We do not die without our own consent,” she concludes. Death Kindly Stopped for Me is a must-read for poetry lovers, Emily Dickinson fans, and the quiet, strong souls.

Content Warnings

Smart Career Planning for Teens: A Guide to Bold Choices and Brilliant Paths - Launch Your Dream Career with Clarity, Passion, and Purpose

Emma Davis

5.0

informative inspiring fast-paced

In Smart Career Planning for Teens, author Emma Davis offers a well-organized, easy-to-read blueprint for young adults who want to plan ahead for their professional futures. Davis makes a potentially overwhelming endeavor incredibly manageable by breaking it down into steps. For one, she focuses on differentiating meanings of similar words and terms, such as “hobby” versus “passion” versus “interest” and how each can best serve a teen aiming to live a balanced life. The book includes discussions about the growth mindset, tips for personal development, and identifications of crucial communication skills. I am particularly fond of the concept of SMART goals, which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based. Far from being rigid and authoritarian in her approach, the author suggests incentives such as a gap year, or a break between high school graduation and the beginning of college, to find one’s footing. Of the quotes at the beginning of each chapter (another feature of the book I admire), I believe this one from Mahatma Gandhi sums up the premise of this text best: “The future depends on what you do today.” I recommend this excellent book to readers of all ages.

Better Off With You

Lark Bailey Ellis

4.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

In Lark Bailey Ellis’s new romance novel Better Off with You, Thea Charles is undoubtedly the hardest-working employee at Cider Brews, a small business in her hometown of Bellhaven, Massachusetts. A star student in high school, she was once friends — with a chance of becoming more — with the handsome and popular Jex Johnson, her current boss’s brother. In the years since the two stopped talking, Jex has taken TV by storm. When he returns to Bellhaven to help out at Cider Brews during the Hollywood writers’ strike, will the two reconcile?

This book is incredibly cute, humorous, and sprinkled with witty banter. The characters — even the secondary cast members such as Julian and Maya — are irresistibly likeable. Jex’s character exudes confidence without macho vibes, and he is a creative with a difficult past — refreshingly charming traits in a male main character. The premise of the Hollywood writers’ strike adds an unexpectedly modern element to the plot. For all this novel’s charms, the stakes between Thea and Jex could be much higher and therefore much more interesting. Furthermore, the “spicy” scenes are uncomfortable at times. These minor cons, however, hardly detract from an overall fun and enjoyable read.

Content Warnings

Self-Love Guide Book for Women: Learn How to Find Happiness, Create a Healthy Lifestyle and Develop Self Confidence

Matilda Hart

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Self-Love Guide Book for Women by Matilda Hart takes a look at one of the issues plaguing many, if not most, girls and women in Western society. Hart begins the book by explaining her credentials as a psychologist and women’s counselor and her personal experience with a lack of self-love. She explains that self-love can be divided into six components: self-acceptance, self-compassion, self-care, self-worth, self-trust, and self-esteem. As an avid reader and a writer, I particularly enjoy the part of the book in which Hart examines the specific definition of each of the six components of self-love and why people word usage is important when communicating about one’s emotional state. For example, readers learn that self-esteem is based on merit and accomplishments, while self-worth is an inherent belief in one’s own importance. Finally, I enjoyed the quotes at the beginning of every chapter, such as this by Christopher Germer at the introduction to Chapter Three: “Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.” Overall, this is a profound self-help piece I would recommend to any girl or woman.

Helena Flinn and the Secrets of the Night

Michael Sokolar

5.0

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Helena Flinn and the Secrets of the Night by Michael Sokolar is a work of middle grade fantasy unlike any other I have read. It examines the complexities of a very real set of health problems — sleep disorders — in a context of magical realism perfect for readers in late elementary school and early junior high school (and even, in my case, adulthood!). The “evil” forces in the book are thrilling and suspenseful, but they are not inappropriately terrifying to the average member of the book’s target audience. Perhaps my favorite element of the story was the emotional strength and camaraderie displayed by the children in the face of danger and unfamiliarity; as is so often the case in reality, in this book, children are more powerful than any hardship which nature or any other of man’s enemies can produce. Overall, I loved this book, and I recommend it to any reader — regardless of age — who enjoys stories of magic, friendship, and children who defy the odds.

Content Warnings

Heartstrings: A Poetic Memoir

Frankie Hau

5.0

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

In Heartstrings: A Poetic Memoir, author Frankie Hau offers readers a uniquely beautiful portrait of his life story. He explores the concepts of nostalgia, love, loss, choices, perseverance, timeliness, and longing for peace, all through the captivating medium of poetry. With verses which I daresay would bring a tear to any eye, readers are along for the ride as Hau recalls his experiences with attraction, love, and romance; then with tension, conflict, and heartbreak. As if his lyrical expressions weren’t haunting enough in meaning alone, he also takes the daring and stylistically difficult risk of an organized rhyme scheme — and, of course, the execution is immaculate. Easily the most resounding poem in the collection, “Myr” recounts the horrors of children living in currently wartorn Ukraine. In such a deeply personal book, its impact was intense. Overall, this book is not one I will soon forget, and I recommend it to all readers.

Enchanted Fate

Alyssa Rose

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Note: if you have not read The first Fates Align novel, Binding Fate, and would like to, I recommend doing so before reading this review.

I just finished Enchanted Fate — the second novel in author Alyssa Rose’s Fates Align romantasy duology — after lingering on the edge of my seat for its entirety. Every beautifully described scene in the world of Bachusa and its neighboring kingdoms is action-packed and full of surprises. In this second volume, which begins a few years after the finale of Binding Fate, readers are reunited with Alzerion. Now the ruling king of Bachusa, he is constantly distracted by his driving need to discover what became of his beloved Aironell. When former queen Evalyn reveals more details about a mysterious, decades-old prophecy, Alzerion seeks out the woman who delivered it: Jezzabell, magic seer and healer from the kingdom of Lyricao. At the prophetess’s advice — and with her warnings in mind — Alzerion and his most trusted men venture into the immensely perilous DarkFlower Jungle, wherein lies the answer to Aironell’s fate. But Alzerion never counted on the wild card of Jezzabell’s spirited daughter Eirini, nor of the presence of darkness much closer to home than he ever imagined.

With only a few exceptions, I have never been an avid reader of fantasy or of its increasingly popular sister genre, romantasy. However, the Fates Align duology — and Enchanted Fate in particular — has changed that. While I am not yet well-versed on the fine art of world-building, I can confidently say that Alyssa Rose’s descriptive skills are immaculate. I felt as if I experienced the story alongside Alzerion, Eirini, and their friends and loved ones. Aironell’s character arc across the first and second novels is not quite believable. However, that makes me all the more excited for Lost and Lonely, the upcoming novella covering her journey during the timespan between books one and two. After finishing Enchanted Fate, I am even more certain of my newfound status as both a romantasy reader and an Alyssa Rose fan.

Content Warnings