jomarie's reviews
290 reviews

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

“The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones.” 🎪

The Night Circus is a book that had been on my radar since it first came out over a decade ago. However, it took until the beginning of this year to get my hands on a copy and months after that to finally read it.

I thought it was a wonderfully enchanting story that captures the delight and magic of the circus in a way that I don’t think I’ve felt or really understood since I was a kid. It also has super similar vibes to another book I read this year, The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Solo, which I’ve been recommending a lot.

The one thing that made it difficult for me to follow was the time jumps following multiple characters. My eyes tend to skip over chapter headers and, honestly, unless it’s relational to a Big Event, I’m terrible with timelines, so I was having to puzzle out what had happened in what order to who while reading. I know that I had the story laid out as far as the plot was concerned, but some nagging part of my brain did get hung up on figuring out the timeline. Before I was halfway done, I was already planning on reading it chronologically my next time through to see if it helps my engagement without hurting the story.

Also, as much as I love a slow burn, this one was pretty slow. Then, after feelings were confirmed, there was so little romantic interaction after they were that that element of the story felt unbalanced and not as satisfying as I would have hoped. That said, the two leads were exceptionally good at dancing around one another and the banter was honestly top quality.

I am so glad to have read this book, even if it didn’t top my list of favorites the way I’ve heard others say it has. However, maybe that is only a matter of letting it sit with me and in time I’ll grow to love it even more. It’s just that kind of story.

Things Are What You Make of Them: Life Advice for Creatives by Adam J. Kurtz

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funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

2.75

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

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emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

2.75

I'm sure if I had read this in high school and not in my mid-20s, I would have enjoyed it more, so I think this book just wasn't for me. I would still recommend it for fans of Simon vs. the Homo Sapien Agenda and any teen looking to read LGBT+ stories.

Content Warnings

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

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4.25

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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challenging emotional reflective medium-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

3.5

We love broken & beautiful people. 🎤

While I didn’t know much about this book going into it, I had high expectations based on what I had heard about the story.

Since the book is set up to be a biography of the band, I guess it explains why it took a minute to focus on Billy and Daisy’s upbringing. However, I don’t feel like the story really started until 120 pages into the book. Once it did, I loved playing with the tension between Daisy & Billy. I thought their working relationship was fascinating & honestly kind of cheapened when the romance element was introduced.

Seeing their process of building out the album was cool, though I sort of wish the lyrics were included in the story & not just the back of the book so we could see exactly what they were talking about. In fact, I wish the format was played with a little more. It was certainly interesting to have it laid out as a series of interview transcripts. Perhaps that’s why I heard so many people say it worked well as an audiobook. As a print format, the style lacked the detail that would be included in an actual biography of a band like photos, articles, & the song lyrics I mentioned before.

As for the characters, my opinions of them shifted throughout the book, which is good so no one was just one thing to me. Daisy was tragic & beautiful and Billy was just tragic. I don’t feel like he got an actual win throughout the whole book. As the story progressed, I felt more invested in Karen & Graham. Then, the ending twist didn’t quite land for me as much as it could have & I think it’s because it’s such an easy edit in my mind that I’m annoyed it was written how it was.

Overall, I think this was not the best medium to tell the story the way it was. I’m curious to see how the upcoming TV show might do it differently & if the story hits a little harder for me then. If you like TJR or the OG rock scene, I can see someone enjoying this, but for me, it just wasn’t a hit.

Content Warnings

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.5

Imma be honest: I didn't know much of what was going on and really couldn't keep most of the names straight. I only knew a vague outline of the plot after watching the movie adaption years ago and, since they take roughly the same amount of time, I'd pick the movie.

Content Warnings