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jumbledjess's reviews
297 reviews
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
This book is how I imagine people get hooked on reality shows about wealthy families - I had a great time. The story jumps between perspectives of three women (2 sisters and their sister-in-law) and how their lives are both within and outside their WASP circles. This was a realistic look behind the curtain of well to do families in Brooklyn and the privilege they have, but sometimes fail to recognize.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is clever as hell. A biting satire not only about the publishing world, but about white privilege, racism, and the casual nature that the world handles diverse voices for personal gain versus for betterment. RF Kuang does a great job of making you jump between cringing at June’s thoughts and actions because they feel so outlandish to moments where you can see them echoed out in the world. A book where no one is “like-able” but very real at the same time.
The Reason I Married Him by Meghan Quinn
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
To the shock of absolutely no one, I really enjoyed The Reason I Married Him. Meghan Quinn is basically a comfort writer for me at this point. I was so incredibly happy to be back in Almond Bay and this didn’t let me down! THE TENSION. THE SLOW BURN. Aubree and Wyatt have my whole heart and there were multiple times in the book where I went “YUP I would absolutely say that to my partner” (omg are we reverse grumpy sunshine?! Am I Aubree?!). This was my first modern day marriage of convenience and I totally ate it up. While this is part of the Almond Bay/Rowley Sibling “series”, you don’t need to read The Way I Hate Him to enjoy this story (though I totally will never shut up about TWIHH, go read it if you haven’t).
Thank you so much Meghan Quinn for an ARC of this book! Getting an early copy did not influence my review or opinion in any way.
Broken Bonds by J. Bree
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
Hear me out - I know I’m rating this a 3.25 and sometimes people can think that means bad bad, but that’s not the case for this one. I enjoyed this book and will absolutely continue this series because the tension and plot have me intrigued. While I’m excited to continue on in this world, there are some things that pulled it down for me. I would say the first half of the book is definitely trying to find its footing and repeats A LOT of the same things (words, interactions, internal monologue threads). For a book about relationships that involve having multiple partners this read YA (I know the characters are 19, so I did give them some passes) which was probably due to the amount of petty comments, cursing (and I curse a lot and even this felt like too much), and just sheer childishness by all of the characters. All that being said, I was able to look past it because the main plot of this story has so much potential and I NEED to know what happens.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Car accident, and Suicidal thoughts
Spare by Prince Harry
informative
medium-paced
3.0
For this I have to recommend listening to it on audio. The Spare is pretty long and some of the chapters take awhile to get through, so listening to it definitely helped me stay engaged in the story. This really drives home the narrative of having immense privilege but not having the support to seek the help that someone feels they need. Multiple times in the book Prince Harry mentions his severe anxiety but feels that he can’t do anything about it without being judged, or going to the doctor when he has an ailment for fear of what the press will print, or even pushing back on the press when they post unsavory stories. Overall, this was fine and wasn’t anything new if you happened to have watched his Netflix special.
The Mistake by Elle Kennedy
funny
fast-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? No
4.0
Now that I’ve read 2 books by Elle Kennedy I can confidently say that she’s an author that I’ll rely on to get me out of a reading slump. This was a fast paced, funny, cute story that has a good bit of spice and some serious topics that get addressed (alcohol addiction). I don’t want to call it a guilty pleasure read, because honestly, I don’t feel bad at all and had a great time.
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
As you can imagine, when talking about enslaved people you have to show the injustices, brutality, and dehumanization that occurred to make this part of history possible. This book does exactly that and looks at America’s past with an unflinching gaze. While definitely not an easy read, it was hard to put this story down because I wanted to know what happened next (though there were moments when I had to stop because the violence was graphic). Definitely not for the faint of heart, but definitely a necessary narrative to have.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Slavery, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Long Live by V.B. Lacey
adventurous
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A solid fantasy with a fun take on elemental magic wielders. Long Live moves between multiple POVs throughout the book (5 in total I believe) which I really enjoyed and helped me connect with the characters more. For pacing, I would say it was a good start and end but the middle part seemed to take a little bit to get where we needed it to go. I will point out that I never got bored with the story, but just wanted it to move along a bit faster in the middle once the characters figure out what they needed to be doing. Without giving anything away, I did feel like there were a good bit of predictable moments, but I am definitely interested in seeing where book 2 goes.