ivyldc's Reviews (416)

challenging hopeful reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Read this for Book Club. It was really beautiful, but it was not something I would have picked up on my own. I liked the story lines of Chie’s grief and the Typhoon. I would have liked a little more cohesion in the story or more story in general. That said, it was a beautiful, contemplative read with many ideas to discuss. 
emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

First, I got this book’s premise confused with rom-com The Flat Share, and kept waiting for the female roommate to appear. Second, I would not have finished this had I not listened to it. Andy was whiny and annoying and not very funny, for a comedian. The final 10% of the book told from Jen’s perspective was the much needed antidote to Andy’s slow moving sad sack recovery from their breakup, but it was so late in the book the payoff was weakened. 
adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Sweet graphic novel featuring a young girl and her Pig Wizard grandfather and a Galdurian. Cadwalleder the Galdurian is the last of his species, maybe, that is credited with creating the lights of the world after the sun went out. They are in search of Beatrice’s missing grandfather. Ends on a cliff hanger, so fortunately I have book 2 ready to go. 
lighthearted reflective 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

I love Emily Henry’s style, and how she brings deeper themes of self-discovery to her romantic comedies. This book leans into the plus element by interweaving the story of rich recluse, Margaret Ives as written by main character Alice Scott. Alice tracked down Margaret after receiving a curious tip in an email. She didn’t know when she finally snagged the interview with Margaret that she had to compete with established biographer Hayden Anderson for the possibility of writing her biography. Over the course of a month the pair have separate interviews with her and are sworn to secrecy about all details they uncover. We learn just as much about the Ives as Hayden and Alice. 
I appreciate what she was doing, but I was only mildly interested in Margaret Ives and Cosmo Sinclair’s story.  It reminded me a lot of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in structure. I think EmHen will continue to get better and better. Each of her books works for different types of readers. 
emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Margo, Jinx, and Bodie and Hungry Ghost, of course, are vivid and unforgettable characters. Margo’s smart as a whip and dumb as a stump because she’s 19 years old and sleeping with her college English Professor. She ends up pregnant, and  in a fit of pique decides to keep the baby, Bodie. Confronted with the reality that babies and roommates don’t mix and childcare is unaffordable, she winds up living with her Dad, retired pro wrestler Dr. Jinx and starting an only fans page. The book explores themes of truth, fiction, narrative,  point of view, perspective, and who is speaking in a story—author or character. And it’s also about love, shame, acceptance, and hypocrisy. For a book about sex work, this is a closed door book. I feel like Rufi Thorpe wrote such a smart book it will take some time to really digest it. This would be an excellent book club selection. 
dark emotional inspiring tense 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: Yes

I wasn’t aware that this book was a retelling of Wuthering Heights until I was already into the story a few chapters. Even though I haven’t read WH, this information did make the story more interesting to me. The first portion of the book when Katerina and Heath are teens was a  little long and seemed very YA. I was glad to see the story get more mature and the themes more significant as they aged. 
The story is really about the push and pull of Katerina and Heath with their competitors, the Lin twins, and Katerina’s drive to win. Each chapter includes segments of a tell all BTS documentary about the Shaw/Rocha ice dance team’s rise and fall from glory. We go along for the ride with Katerina as the main POV, so we get a lot of perspectives along the way. This was a great story, well told. And now I have to read Wuthering Heights. 
emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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: Yes

The Story of little Ruthie's disappearance, as told by her brother Joe and Norma (Ruthie's "new" identity) is a family story spanning about 50/60 years. We meet Joe as he is dying. He has recently returned home to his family in Nova Scotia and is being cared for by his brother Ben, sister Mae, and their mother. Joe is reminiscing about how, when he was six and she was four, Ruthie went missing one summer day while the family was on lunch break from picking blueberries in Maine. We get alternating perspectives with Norma telling her story about the dreams she used to have of another mother, another place. Her mother, her Aunt June, and her whole family worked hard to hide her true origins from her while she was growing up. I would have rated this book higher if it had spent more time on the Mi'kmaq culture. I think this author has another story or two in her, especially about Joe and Ruthy's parents' generation and their experiences at the Canadian indian schools. Read for book club. 

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Maggie Smith tells her story of divorce and recovery from divorce in a way that speaks to women, especially Gen-X moms, who find ourselves being full-time moms, full-time working, and with spouses who don't really get it. Even though this book is so poetic, I wanted to slow down, but I literally could not stop reading. The short essay passages and repeated themes and motifs made it easy to keep reading. The inciting incident to her divorce was infidelity by her husband, but she ultimately came to the truth that the marriage probably would not have lasted even if that had not happened. The resentment of her work was a huge issue in the marriage, and it's so relatable. She takes accountability for her actions, as well as being open and raw about feeling betrayed. I rated this 4.25 because it did get a little drawn out at a certain point, which, of course, tracks with the real-world events the book is tackling. I am definitely a fan and will look for her poetry collections. 
informative medium-paced

 Sarah Wynn-Williams’ story of desperately trying to get into Facebook to “help” the company with foreign policy is full of the kinds of behind the scenes corporate culture greed and abuse you might expect. She endured much that no employee should have to, such as lewd comments from a boss, intrusions during her maternity leave, and death defying situations in foreign countries. And at the same time, she tries mightily to distance herself from decisions she actively participated in or tacitly approved by a company that made the world worse (cue Trump 1.0 and Russian interference). It’s clear she hasn’t learned her lesson as the epilogue states she is working on AI in the military trying to work out deals with China. I listened to this book. Would not have been able to finish it on paper. Some of the wonky stuff is really in depth. I was not surprised to learn that Sheryl Sandberg is a creepy out of touch hypocrite or that Mark Zuckerberg is an arrogant baby, or that her direct boss was a lech. 
dark emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Bud Stanley is an unforgettable character. He is an obituary writer who accidentally publishes his own death notice after drinking and typing one lonely night. Bud is put on leave because he is essentially “dead” to the company. They are working out how to revive him in the system in order to fire him. In the meantime, Bud starts to explore his feelings around death with his friend and landlord Tim, a paraplegic man who worked at Sotheby’s. We also meet Clara, a woman who convinces them to go to Wales and funerals to be reminded of how to live and Leo, the 8 year old next door who has already experienced a lot of loss in his young life. This book is very funny, but also sad and contemplative. I felt several lines were used over and over about remembering the dead to remind us to live. I was moved by this book, I loved Bud, and I really liked that it is in the end a kind book. It lives on the shelves with The Midnight Library, Beauty Land, and Eleanor Olephant is completely fine. 

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