juliewr423's reviews
103 reviews

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

4.0

I've been really enjoying haynes's take on Greek mythology. I think she does a really good job narrating it I enjoyed it more than trying to read it. My familiarity with the sorce material is minimal so I don't have much to compare her version to.

Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes

4.0

Had a false start a while ago - I didn't realize initially it was nonfiction. But I decided to revisit and I'm glad I did. If you liked Greek mythology and have enjoyed recent retellings with the women at the center (a thousand ships, circle, clytemnestra, stone blind) I think you'll appreciate this discussion of prominent women in myths and how their stories have been twisted or glossed over

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

3.0

I mean it's a rom com? Kind of predictable. I like that it takes place in Palo Alto although

if his mom has stage 4 lung cancer I'm confused why the author chose to have her receive care at pamf instead of Stanford

totally reminds me of Renee Oliphant but with sex haha

His Mortal Demise by Vanessa Le

2.75

I'm starting to realize that perhaps duologies are not for me.... this sequel was mid at best in my opinion. I skipped through quite a bit especially the war/battle scenes and I felt like when characters got filled in on what had been going on in the other time lines we got the full story instead of a gloss over or like a "then I told her/him/them all they missed" type deal. I feel like this one felt more YA than the first especially with Kochin I felt like his character didn't really develop he just kind of went around in circles with his internal conflict and I felt best over the head with what he felt were his inadequacies. And I hate the old "I can't tell anyone my problems" cliche that he felt with in regards to his family and his time in the city and with Nhika especially the first time he goes home. I feel like maybe the series would have landed better for me if it had been a standalone instead.

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

4.0

An eloquent story of 4 daughters' immigrant experience/how different their life was in the Dominican Republic before having to flea. I wasn't paying enough attention at the beginning and got a little confused at the timeline. The story reminded me "of women and salt" but instead of the different generations of the family it was the different sisters.

Babel by R.F. Kuang

2.5

The way the story was built is not for me. I like little fluff and a clear conflict and a clear resolution. I thought this would be a blend of the Atlas Six and Blood Over Bright Haven and it didn't land for me the way those stories did. I also appreciate a little more nuance vs telling you exactly what to think. 

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

4.0

I liked this a lot even though I clocked a lot of the "twists"

it didn't take me long to figure out this was a "Just Like Heaven" situation where he wasn't really dead.

I think if you liked novel love story and seven year slip you'll like this one too 

Tale of the Heart Queen by Nisha J. Tuli

4.0

I liked this conclusion. I did read the rest of the series well over 6 months ago so I don't have the strongest memories of what happened before. But she left little nuggets of reminders and a few points here and there dragged a little and there were a few surprises I saw coming. Out of all the series I've read in the past year this one held up the best for me across all 4 books. I don't remember any major slump. Would definitely recommend 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

3.0

I both can and can't believe this was required reading freshman year of high school... I get it. I get why it's important. But boy does it drag on and it took forever for it to just end. It's important to remember when this was written and when it takes place, the language used is rough and the themes a challenging, but still topical even now

The Honey-Don't List by Christina Lauren

2.5

This didn't land for me like other Christina Lauren books I've read. The characters weren't great for me and it was hard to stomach Carey tolerating Melissa's behavior. I felt like the faux book excerpts and articles sprinkled throughout were cheesy and didn't do it for me either. I skipped almost all of them.. can't win them all I guess