heathero621's reviews
584 reviews

The Wild Between Us by Amy Hagstrom

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense 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? No

4.0

Silas returns to the mountains where he spent his high school days.  He is now a divorced father with two sons, who end up going missing.  The search and rescue team is brought in and Silas is confronted with another tragedy that happened 20 years before in the same place.  The book goes back and forth in time to the first tragedy and then current times.

The author of this book is someone that I went to high school with, so it was extra exciting to get this book.  The setting also takes place where I grew up, although some parts are fictionalized.  I thought that the book was really good.  I enjoyed both timelines and was surprised by a little twist at the end of the book.  For the most part, the pacing of the book was good, but there were times where it was a a little slow for me and I wanted it to pick up.  It also just so happened that I was reading a nonfiction book about people getting lost on the PCT and I thought that these two books complimented each other really well.

Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution by Elie Mystal

challenging funny informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

Elie Mystal is a lawyer that knows a lot about the constitution and the amendments.  In this book he goes over the constitution and lays out why it is wrong, how it is misinterpreted, and why things need to be changed.  This book is definitely left leaning and if you are like me, you will find yourself agreeing to everything he has to say.  I learned more about the constitution and he made me think differently on some things.  I thought that his arguments were great.  I listened to the audiobook and it was a good listen.  He seems very passionate about this topic.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I got sucked into the hype around this series about a woman named Feyre that gets taken to the land of the Faeries and is trying to free a group of them.  I didn't care for this book.  I'm not a fantasy person, but I had heard great things and thought I would enjoy it, but I did not.  It wasn't interesting for me and I found it a bit boring.  I have heard from multiple people that they thought the first book (this one) wasn't very good and that they pick up in the next couple of books.  I'm going to give the next one a try, but if I'm not into it, I'm going to stop the series.

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

In this book there are group of writers on a train in Australia doing some promo for their books.  One person ends up dead and then another and Ernest, a crime novelist, is trying to figure out who the murderer is.  This was a really fun who-dunnit novel.  I like the way the story is told with Ernest talking to the reader.  It was a quick read with enjoyable characters.  Like his last novel, I'm not sure how much I'm going to remember it in a few months.

Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass by Lana Del Rey

dark emotional informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.75

This is a poetry book by the artist/singer Lana Del Rey.  Many of her poems definitely have a lyrical quality to them that made sense as she is a singer.  It was interesting getting a little slice into her life and what she is going through.  The book is very short and very easy to get through.  There are also a lot of photos in the book.

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

This book takes place over many years and follows one family from the matriarch as a child to her granddaughter as an adult.  It takes place in India.  This book is right up my alley because I enjoy family dramas that take place over many years.  I liked the characters and each of their stories.  Verghese's writing was easy to get through and I looked forward to reading this novel.  There were some parts that were a little slow, but overall it was great read and it didn't feel like it was a little over 700 pages.  Verghese is a doctor and there was a lot of medical talk in the book, but it was never something that went over my head.  

Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Update:  Reread (listened this time) to this book in 2024 and I still found it enjoyable.  The narrator was a super slow talker and I had to up the speed a lot!  My review below still remains the same.

Here is my review of the book from 2017 (via Goodreads)

Theresa and Nora are young women from Ireland that have immigrated to the US from Ireland.  Nora, is the more responsible older sister that feels like it is her duty to take care of Theresa.  Theresa ends up getting pregnant and that ends up causing Nora and Theresa to make some tough decisions that will forever change their lives.

The book goes back and forth to when Theresa and Nora come to the States and then to 2009 when there is a tragedy that has happened to the family and everyone is coming together.  The current years are more about the kids of Theresa and Nora and the past years reveal the family secrets and why decisions were made.  

I enjoyed this book and looked forward to when I had time to sit down and read it.  I thought that it was a good family story spanning many years.  The family secrets in this book kept me wanting to read more.  I wish I could have known more about Patrick, but I understand why there wasn't more on him.  The ending also left me wanting more; so many questions left unanswered, but the ending was satisfying enough.  I felt that all of the characters were likable and there was not anyone that annoyed me.  I can definitely see this book being turned into a movie and being a contender for a best picture.

The Stand by Stephen King

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This is a novel about this manmade flu virus that breaks out and kills most of the world.  The survivors tend to go into two groups, one is a good one and the other one is a bad one, led by a bad leader.  This novel is a classic and it is one that is on my TBR of books to finish.  The book that I got was the unedited version that clocked in at 1439 pages!  In the forward King talks about how his editor made him edit it down by 300 pages.  I think that King should've edited down by at least 700 pages!  It was interesting reading this book about this flu because it was eerily similar to COVID-19, but on a much worse scale.  The book was too long for me.  There were a lot of characters and it was hard to keep track of them, especially the men (there were more men in the story than the women).  I found the book to be boring at times.  It was also a little dated.  It wasn't scary at all and I was thinking that it would have some scariness to it.  I've read a good chunk of his books and this is may be my least favorite that I've read.  I think The Shining was so much better.

The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

2.75

This book is about a family of women that live on an island in a swamp area of Michigan.  This book just wasn't for me.  First, when you hold the book it feels so heavy and dense, but it's not that big.  It was really weird.  I don't know why it felt that way?  Then I felt like the writing was heavy and dense too.  The story dragged for me.  I never was super excited to pick it up and then reading just a chapter at a time felt like a slog.  You may be wondering why I didn't quit reading it.  Well, I'm not good at quitting and I'm trying to read all of Jenna's picks and this is one of them.  I really didn't like the characters.  The women and especially Donkey frustrated me so much.  They just made bad decision after bad decision.  Then the ending when the men come to "save the day" was a little annoying.  I had higher expectations for this book and they just didn't live up to it.  It's not a horrible book, but it just wasn't for me.  What I liked most about the book was the cover.

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

3.5

This book is the true story of the the Whaleship Essex that the book Moby Dick was based upon.  The book was interesting to hear about the disastrous trip and what they all went through.  The book was way more interesting than Moby Dick!  I did find that the book was kind of dry at times and I found myself a little bored by it.  I did listen to the audio and I think that it might have kept my attention more if I was reading it, which is surprising because usually nonfiction books are one of my favorites on audio.