jaylinsoto's reviews
319 reviews

Time of the Flies by Claudia Piñeiro

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informative mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Tidal Waters by Velia Vidal

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda

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emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke

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

4.0

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Television for Women by Danit Brown

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emotional reflective fast-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

I really enjoyed this book. It painted an honestly pretty bleak picture of motherhood within the constraints of gender norms/expectations and the patriarchy. It highlighted the burden often placed upon women to take care of the baby, the home, and to grapple with all of the changes happening in their body and mind, often without help. I enjoyed reading about her renewed friendship with Penny & the death of an old unsupportive friendship. What I didn’t enjoy is what, in my opinion, was only added for a shock value and that was the cruelty shown towards Estie’s cat. What happened didn’t feel necessary and it tainted the book for me.  
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Why Did You Come Back Every Summer by Belén López Peiró

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challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

Solito by Javier Zamora

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emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

5.0

Not in My Book by Katie Holt

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

I’m going to start this review by saying that enemies to lovers is my least favorite trope. I find it hard to excuse a man who belittles, puts down, and embarrasses a woman all to say at the end ”I’ve loved you the entire time.” Now sometimes, enemies to lovers is done really well where you truly understand why there’s animosity & there’s a discussion & apology. My main problem with this, is that I don’t feel like Aiden was justified in his behavior towards Rosie. He repeatedly told her that he felt like the genre she was writing in was beneath him & he was just so mean even during their final conflict. I wasn’t a fan and I felt like he was just given a pass because he was being nice to her sometimes, had a tragic backstory, and also he’s hot. I also wasn’t a fan of the “poor girl, wealthy boy” dynamic.

Anyways, onto what I liked about the book. I thought the author did well setting the Christmas & winter scene in New York. It was really believable and I thought it was a perfect backdrop to the novel. I also really loved her friendship with her roommate and her relationship with her family. I wish we saw more from her other grad school friends, those relationships fell a bit flat but I did think they added great comedic relief. I also LOVED the scenes where her and Aidan were writing on the same document and that SPICY SCENE?! I was eating. It. Up. However, I wasn’t a fan of when the scene they were writing was a rehashing of a previous scene we just saw OR when they used the book as a way to communicate with each other instead of actually talking about their feelings. 

Overall, I don’t think this book was for me, but it did have some parts that I enjoyed. 
Severance by Ling Ma

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dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75