justinlife's reviews
850 reviews

Not That Complicated by Isabel Murray

funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

2.5

Not that Complicated was an ok read. It was trying to go for this murder mystery m/m romance, small british town vibe and it missed the mark for me. The narrator felt too much like a dolt to be interesting. I think Murray was going for humor in some of the miscommunication and misspeak which is fine, but for me it was more aggravating that funny. 

The narrator had of being a fussy person while mostly denying they are fussy. The writing was easy to get through though and it felt like it might be better as a soap opera. Overall, it was fine.

Teacher of the Year by M.A. Wardell

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.25

This book was fine. In Teacher of the Year we have kindergarten teacher Marvin who is up for TOTY award for the county and maybe the state. During the middle of the school year, a new student transfers with a hot, wealthy daddy, Olan. Olan starts having a bi awakening and we get a somewhat spicy book as we these two fall for each other and work through their traumas. 

The book is solid but the narrator, Olan, has harsh opinions about recovering addicts and alcoholics that didn't set well with me, obviously. He has his own issues being a child of neglect. Olan is a fun character and his book does have some heat to it. Good for that teacher. I think Wardell handled the teaching aspect well. It felt believable. 

this was the third m/m romance novel I read this year set in Maine. What's up with Maine being a location destination for m/m romance? I was not expecting that. 

¡Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons by John Paul Brammer

emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

4.5

JP Brammer has an advice column called "Hola Papi" and here he uses that trope to discuss his past. He tells his story with such care and empathy that having questions that he can answer to himself gives him the ability to be kind. This is a collection short stories or vignettes of his life. Each chapter is a question that he asks himself. When he answers the questions, he is so gentle and kind that it's refreshing. 

I feel like a lot of memoirs have a snarky or an acerbic take, particularly if they are essays. JP Bramer does the opposite. He's kind, understanding, and recognizes his part to play in his life. What I appreciated about this book is that even though he's tackling big issues, he never insults himself. He gives himself grace. We need more of that. The concepts he talks about are internalizes homophobia, bullying, mental help, suicide, sexual assault, assimilation, etc. I never felt uncomfortable for him. That's a hard thing to manage when writing about yourself. 

I would recommend this book to people looking for a queer, poor, biracial experience told with love and care. 

If I See You Again Tomorrow by Robbie Couch

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

This was a decent YA novel with a lot of fun supporting characters. 

Here we have a take on the Groundhog Day movie where Clark is forced to relive the same day over and over again until one day things shift and he realizes he's not alone. Stuck in the same day as him is Beau. As Clark tries to figure out why he's stuck, Beau pushes away. 

This was a cute book and it took a direction I wasn't expecting based on the cover. What I liked about it was how tired Clark is of reliving this day and having to go through the motions with people who w0n't remember him or don't think about him. I appreciated how Couch made the characters seem real in how they dealt with it. I liked all the new characters that were introduced when Beau enters the picture. 

There were some beats that were off for me. How they figure out their situation and how they get out of it didn't feel compatible with the story. I also, personally am not a fan of the concept of soulmates in a relationship sense and that theme gets mentioned some. 

I wish this book had at least two more chapters or an epilogue b/c it feels like there's a lot of unfinished business. Maybe one chapter and an epilogue. 

Overall though, Couch does a good job with this one and his target audience should enjoy it. 

They Hate Each Other by Amanda Woody

emotional hopeful tense 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

4.25

I appreciate that the title of the book says it all. It tells you what you're going to get. In this YA novel, we get the enemies to lovers trope along with a fake relationship trope. Honestly, the fake relationship trope is my favorite b/c it's a bit dumb but so much fun. This book also helped me understand the beats of the YA genre- overly independent teenagers dealing with adult issues b/c the adults in their lives don't care. Emotional neglect is a big one and all of those are on display in this book. 

I didn't find this book tiring or exhausting but thought it fun to see how the enemies move beyond their preconceived notions about each other. Seeing teenagers having to support families and having to deal with emotionally abusive parents or neglectful parents is hard. What I liked about this book was how they worked through it and how receiving help in difficult situations can hard. The story is told in dual narrations and we get two characters, Jonah and Dylan, who have different circumstances and try to figure out their feelings while dealing with their own emotional issues. 

overall a solid read. 

The Place Between by Kit Oliver

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

This is a solid read if you don't have any understanding of academia and you enjoy professor/predoctoral student relationships. We get great bi representation, we get fun characters and a look at academic life that's both accurate and inaccurate. At times, I was like "this is fiction, just enjoy" but my brain wouldn't let me. While I enjoyed the leads, one of the leads felt flat and closed off in a way that didn't seem normal, interesting or human. The other was more amiable and Oliver makes up for it with fun supporting characters. I have a harder time with workplace romance, particularly if there are people in power working to get the couple together. It stresses me out. If one of the leads had been more open and I might have enjoyed it more. 

Overall though, I liked it and would read more by Oliver. 

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

This book is a perfectly fine book to read for a quick summer break. It's not too tense, not too stressful, and overall an easy reading experience. 

There is sexual violence and because half the story is set in 1930-40s North Carolina, there's racism. The book centers around a young woman who is released from prison to restore a mural per a request in a will. This leads to her wanting to know what happened to the original artist and leads her on the smallest of quests. 

Overall it's a decent read. I finished it pretty quickly. I don't know if I would read more from Chamberlain but good for her for creating characters and stories that have mass appeal. I felt like the title didn't match the story as much and that's ok.

Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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

4.25

I've been a sucker for cute covers recently and this take on the Grease story made me curious. You have the bones of the story- boy spends summer with boy, ends up at boys school, hijinks ensue. Having that base helped give Gonzalez room to re-envision some aspects of the story and make it queer. Here we have a first person narration that isn't self loathing. Oliver moves from California to North Carolina where his family was sharing the summer so his mom can be closer to her sick sister. Little does he know that the school he's attending is the one that his summer fling, Will attends. Will isn't out and a star basketball player.

It's fun to see her take the things we know from the movie and twist it and have fun giving it new directions. This was one of the better YA novels I've read. It was sweet, sentimental, appropriately sad, and the young adults felt fun to read. Gonzalez adds a lot to Ollie and gives him ample opportunities to work through the stress of death, mortality, and also self respect.

It's a really good read that I can see myself coming back to.

Cattle Stop by Kit Oliver

emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.75

They are really selling me on the cute covers. This one was adorable and I'd thought I'd check it out. 

The story follows Cooper, returning to visit a farm he grew up and worked on in the summer of his youths and how he doesn't want to admit his crush for Whit so instead antagonizes him. This has a lot of the classic rom com tropes- almost willfully ignorant or naive lead character, people's inability to communicate, and people misreading situations. 

Overall I liked it. It was fun to read about queer farmers falling for each other and this book had some spice to it too. The spicy scenes were better written than some of the other books I've read. 

I think my main issue was that it needed more editing. Some passages felt unnecessarily dense and wordy. It's a good read though and I'll read more from Kit Oliver. 

A Dash of Salt and Pepper by Kosoko Jackson

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really need to do better about not buying books that have fun cute cartoony covers. What can I say? I love them. 

Kosoko Jackson wrote this book and in the acknowledgements that this was a difficult book to write, which was surprising to me because it seemed like he had so much fun with it. This book was a lot of fun and felt like a queer take on a Hallmark movie. Xavier gets dumped and moves back to small town Maine to wallow as he searches for direction. He ends up working at Logan's restaurant in order to make some cash to get where he wants to go. Logan, the owner, the hot dad that everyone in town wants, might just be eating up (pun intended) Xavier. 

I enjoyed reading this book from Xavier's point of view. Jackson did a brilliant job with this character. He was just the right amount of rom com annoying but was never intolerable. He was fun, sarcastic, and used his humor to deflect. He felt lived in and the story overall moved fairly quickly. 

There were a couple of points that felt unbelievable that would be somewhat of a spoiler, but that's the point of those Hallmark movies right? We need ridiculous moments. Overall, Jackson's writing soared and his character work was marvelous. All were fun to read. There is a little spice, but it's not too much. Seasoned just right.