jcaceres88's reviews
372 reviews

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

Loved this whole series. This one was just as cute as the others and I liked that it explored the perspective of someone on the autism spectrum. I didnt give it a 5 like the others only because some of these scenarios were not believable and would never happen in real life lol.

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

Tananarive Due is such an amazing storyteller. Her attention to detail and the way she sets the scenes just grabs me every time. It literally felt like a movie unfolding in my mind. I could see, hear, smell, feel every moment. Loved this book and would definitely read again despite the heavy content, which is a testament to how good it was!

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

5.0

Love these books following the Brown sisters. This one lived up to how much I enjoyed the first. Super cute story and I appreciated the male love interest being the one obsessed with romance novels lol. It was also nice to see someone who experienced something tragic still be so open to love and their emotions.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Hmm I didn't love it but it kept me entertained. I was super frustrated with the main character for constantly making so many assumptions and leaping to her own conclusions literally every other page. But I was into the setting/vibe. I did find myself speed reading through a lot of it just to get to the end because I could sense there were a lot of twists and turns along the way that were not going to matter as much by the time we got to the real story.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

emotional funny reflective fast-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

4.25

This is my second Emily Henry book and I'm finding I really like her way of story telling and writing. Her books have sucked me in each time and make it hard for me to put the book down. I loved the banner between the characters and how their connection built over time. But I do feel like there were some contradictory moments and unnecessary obstacles at times. At first I was worried this would be another story where the female main character gave a lot of herself and the male love interest stayed very surface level. But once Gus started opening up more I felt like there was a nice balance between the two. I did want more out of him at times but I'm sure the book was long enough as it is lol. I also didn't love the "happy for now" lesson that hit at the end as it felt it didn't mesh well with how their story ended since it was clear they were charting a path of wanting to build a future. 

A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone

emotional funny fast-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed going back to Christmas Notch for this story. I enjoyed Winnie's story of trying to shed her old self and learning who she is now after shedding those old preconceived notions. If anything I wish maybe we leaned into that a bit more? Don't get me wrong, a sexual awakening is always fun but seemed like her new self revolved around orgasms a lot lol. Kallum was a fun love interest too. I still feel like some things were over dramatized to create conflict? While other things that should have been seen as actual problems to work through were kind of just glossed over without a proper conversation. But all in all it was a cute book!

The Wishing Pool and Other Stories by Tananarive Due

dark mysterious fast-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? No

4.0

I've been a fan of Tananarive Due since I read The Good House for the first time last year. She is so great at weaving stories and building suspense. These stories definitely did not disappointed. I don't usually read short stories so it was hard for me to move on each time one ended. I kept wanting to know more haha. My faves from the bunch are Haint in the Window, Incident at Bear Creek Lodge, Last Stop on Route 9, Rumpus Room, Migration, Caretaker, and The Biographer.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Loved it! I had trouble getting into it at first because I was worried I was dealing with another unlikeable main character but by chapter 4 I was fully sucked in. I ended up really enjoying the characters and the ode to books littered throughout the story. I found all the nods to tropes entertaining. Libby is the only character I couldn't really understand and left me a little annoyed. But otherwise I loved delving into all of these people's lives and witnessing the love story unfold. Parts of it felt a little one sided to me, with Nora sharing A LOT and Charlie always keeping things super close to the chest and vague. But it was great to see Nora opening up and Charlie eventually doing the same. Really enjoyed it!

Snow Place Like LA by Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone

emotional lighthearted medium-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

3.0

Quick little addition to the Merry Little Meet Cute world. I had a gard time sympathizing with Luca as I didn't really find him likeable in the first book. It was good to get more insight into his world with this book and work towards bridging connections but his reactions and reasonings didn't always make a ton of sense to me. Felt almost like just contrived drama for the sake of drama 

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

I liked the idea of this book but I had a hard time connecting with it. Something about the writing just didn't suck me in. I didn't feel any sort of attachment to the characters, it all just felt very clinical and distant. Maybe I shouldn't have done this one on audio because I'm still not 100% accustomed to consuming books this way. I found myself going back to it each time just because I wanted to be done and not because I wanted to dive into the story. A shame really because I really loved the message behind this book.