kamrynkoble's reviews
429 reviews

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

dark emotional mysterious slow-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

3.5

3.5 stars rounded up. I'm not sure I would've read this if it wasn't for my book club, but I'm glad I did.

My main complaint is the sheer volume of characters and the lack of a clear goal/plot/central story. And for all of the random stories I had to read about them, I really don't know them well at all. I told my cousin that if I was trying to make these characters in the Sims, I would have a bear of a time trying to come up with three traits for any of them.

Reading felt like a bit of a chore, and I think I would've taken much longer if I wasn't trying to meet my book club deadline. The nature of it just made me skim, and when I skimmed, I missed a lot of what makes this book strong. I ended up transitioning to audio because of how much I was skimming, but then I struggled to focus on the audio too. I ended up reading a summary that made me appreciate it a bit more, and I think I would've benefitted from active discussion as I read rather than just being independent until the end.

I do wish that the setting would've been more grounded. I feel like I can't clearly picture much of it, and it was so important to the story.

The strength lies in the themes. It provides ample opportunity for reflection and discussion. For these reasons though, the content warnings abound. Make sure to scan the list ahead of time if you have any common triggers.

While the summary I read helped me appreciate the bigger picture of this novel more, I think it often gets lost in the slog with this one. I didn't need McBride to be heavier-handed, but a little more focus/less distraction would've made it more impactful in my opinion.

Content Warnings

The Governess Game by Tessa Dare

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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

3.5

This was cute. 3.5 stars.

I loved the FMC and the children. It made me laugh out loud a couple times which I always appreciate. I didn’t adore this one as much as the first, but it was super fun to have a cameo from those characters in this one.

I wish it would’ve been longer and a little more in-depth. The ending especially felt rushed and unsatisfying. It all resolved a little too quickly.

I’ll be reading the next one. This is a quick, steamy, witty, mostly lighthearted (despite all of the doll funerals) regency romance.

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House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

My overall emotion is just disappointment and dissatisfaction.

This was hardly a crossover. It was more like a Nesta and Azrael cameo. I love Nesta more than anything, and I did love the scenes with her, but I just . . . expected more. I’m still really disappointed that Bryce didn’t even meet Feyre, and they only mentioned her twice as Rhys’s mate. I think SJM’s interviews and marketing strategies drastically oversold this “crossover.”

It just really didn’t feel like “enough” even though she had 850(!) pages to play with. Bryce and Hunt were so disappointing. Their “reunion” is CRIMINALLY awful. They just had no emotional charge or spark in this book. I felt super disconnected from Bryce constantly, and the bouncing around POVs did not help that. Her anti-fae BS also continually grew more and more annoying each time she met more fae who WEREN’T that way. It seemed extra aggressive in this compared to books 1 and 2, which I JUST read.

I HATED the info dumping with Thea. I just didn’t care, at all, and it was presented in such an unappealing way. If I tried to read it, I skimmed. If I tried to listen to it, I’d zone out. And yes, I read all three formats (print, kindle, and audio) to slog through this one.

I never laughed out loud, and I was never even close to crying or even felt emotional at all. SJM is usually so good at nailing that ending which makes up for some greater issues, but the Asteri defeat was so anticlimactic. How many times can she kill and resurrect main characters? I wasn’t worried about Bryce at all. This was literally me: 🙄

My biggest complaint with all the CC books is how many characters are seemingly pointless. It’s like SJM introduces them for a greater purpose, but then just forgets about them or kills them off and it all feels like a waste. Danika is dangerously close to this, as she was effectively dead for 95% of this trilogy. Sigrid, Sophie and her brother, Sathia… Apparently if you get an S-name, you’re useless. And the dragon girl? There were just so many guns that were created, but never fired. She says this is the end of Bryce and Hunt, so I’m very curious to see where this goes next. This worldbuilding is infamously hard to get into, and this just felt like such a letdown.

I read that SJM completely scrapped her first draft and rewrote this book in six weeks. If this is true, it makes a lot of sense. It’s just missing so much heart and follow through. I’d be very curious to hear why this happened and read the first draft.

I originally gave this a 4 but writing this review, I’m going to have to take it down. What did I love?

Ruhn. Lidia. Oh my word. They were the shining stars (lol) of this book. I LOVED both of them and their relationship. Night and Day was one of my favorite (if not my most favorite) subplots of CC2, so it’s no surprise that I adored them. I’m still not sold on Ruhn shooting her (which, again, turned out to be COMPLETELY POINTLESS) but oh well.

I wish we got a little more Hypaxia. Her relationship with Celestina also fizzled out in such a stupid way. It feels like that was just thrown in for shock value. Like so much else, SJM just threw us a bone with one sentence explaining what happened.

Ugh. I’m just a little sad. I expected a lot more from this. I’ll be interested to see if my opinion changes as I stew.

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The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

I’m rating the quality of this as a book, not rating Spears or her story.

I feel for her. Anyone in the US knows Spears has gone through some difficult circumstances. I’m glad she could share her story in this way, (I hope) on her own terms.

I wanted more from it. It felt like a teenager’s diary, with summary and shallow reflections. I wonder what the writing process was like, and how it could’ve been with different professionals working alongside her. There’s a lot of “he said, she said” with her family, and I think Spears could have clarified her perspective of events without directly targeting them so much.

I only know a few of Spears’s songs, but I was surprised by how much I knew about her just from looking at tabloids in grocery stores and growing up in the 2000s. I’m glad I read this, and if you’re interested in Spears’s work or life at all, it would be worth a read. The audiobook was well done.

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Twisted by Sara Shepard

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dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

2.0

This is a moment. My favorite trashy read series. This one is particularly ridiculous, but oh so entertaining. I feel like it took a step up in the “mature content” sense, but neither the book or characters are mature by any means. You know I’ll be back.

Please look at my highlights. Yes, Hanna mentioned her bra strap and then her strapless bra on the next page. Who edited these?

Content Warnings

Published.: The Proven Path From Blank Page to Published Author by Chandler Bolt

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informative

1.0

I . . . did not like this. I have read many, many nonfiction books about writing, and none of them have been even similar to this. It's focused on nonfiction (he'll occasionally throw in nuggets about fiction, but barely), and only on selling lots and lots of books. His main recommendation are to harass your friends and family for reviews, and send lots of emails. I always naturally dislike any books that encourage you to pull a book out of "nothing" just for the sake of making money. I get it, you're trying to tell copies of this book. But it feels slimy and disingenuous.

This book reads as an advertisement for the author's self-publishing company. I looked up said self-publishing company, and it is criminally expensive. For how much he craps on the trad pub industry, and says that self-publishing is a way to make more money in the long run, I'm a mildly horrified. This is one example quote:

"The only time it makes sense to traditionally publish is if you're a big name and can get a sizable advance. If you don't have an email list of 50k+ people or a large social media platform/audience, you won't get signed by a publisher. If you do, you won't get much of an advance."

In another section, he claims that even if you do get a trad pub advance, you'll be paying it back if you don't sell enough books. This is NOT true at any legitimate place. Sure, they have to earn your advance back before you get ADDITIONAL royalties, but no respectable publishing company is coming back for your advance. This is wrong, and I don't like the way Bolt presents this information. Again, it feels slimy.

First of all, the information he includes about trad pubbing is simply wrong. This is coming from someone who works for a publishing company. Of course Bolt wants you to self-publish, because he wants you to spend gobs of money on his self-publishing school.

It could've been a series of three blog posts for the same amount of content. I don't think I'm the target audience, because I simply know too much about book publishing and most of this was so rudimentary. I won't look at my notes for this book ever again, and I wish I would've skipped it. It seems like a blatant KU money grab in the hopes you'll buy his other products. When he's giving you all of his tricks, it just makes his own business all the more transparent. I was hoping to learn more about self-publishing, but this was just not the right resource. Onto the next one.

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

Wow. Ugh. I have so many thoughts I can’t even begin to sort them out. My prevailing feeling though is that I’m so mad I knew these spoilers while I tried SO hard to avoid them. I pivoted away from TOG because I knew I wanted to read CC3 as soon as it came out so it wouldn’t happen again. SJM posting that massive spoiler on her own Instagram makes me furious. Ma’am, have you hard of a carousel post?

This was very complex and a lot and I really hope that more of it will make sense in the next book. I already feel like I need to reread everything. I’m envious of anyone who got to go into this knowing nothing. Ugh.

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

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dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

Whew! I think I read this in two sittings. It was a very tightly paced, twisty thriller, and I loved the short chapters and multiple POVs.

My main issue was that there was SO many characters and plot threads I could not keep them straight. Even in the beginning I could feel myself losing track of all the people introduced. I think it would’ve been better if I actually read this instead of listening to the audiobook, but it was a little rough. I’m still not quite sure what exactly happened to certain threads became it was a little too ambiguous and confusing. Like a certain character died? That was news to me in the epilogue! And googling it, it doesn’t seem I’m the only one who was confused about that.

Also, I can tell this male author has never been pregnant with twins or talked to a woman who’s been pregnant with twins.

All in all this was an enjoyable thriller and I’d recommend it. What you see is what you get. Fast and twisty.

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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

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emotional reflective sad 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

4.75

This was the first book I read for a brand new book club, and we’re off to a great start.

It was instantly captivating to me. It’s been a bit since I’ve read such a character-driven novel, and I adored it. I see so many complaints about the characters, but they felt nuanced and real and relatable to me, even when they were frustrating.

I truly loved the video games/business aspect of this. I kept thinking that it shouldn’t actually be as interesting as it was, but I was engaged the entire time.

I think this is one that will keep coming to mind years down the line. I feel like these people and these games should actually be real with how vivid they are to me.

Also, I have not had to look up so many new words in YEARS. That was fun to me.

I was missing a little more emotional impact (and the content lends itself plenty to that) to make it a whole 5 stars, but I enjoyed the writing style, story, and characters. I’d definitely read more from this author.

Update: this book has PLAGUED me like none other. I keep thinking of it and the characters constantly. I have to bump it to 5 for that reason alone. PLEASE let me know peace 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Content Warnings

Our Last Night by Taylor Adams

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I went into this completely blind, just because I liked <i>No Exit</i> so much. I ended up listening to the entire audiobook in one day which I think is a first for me.

I’ve never read anything like this. It’s going to be one of the anomalies on my read shelf that I think about for years to come. This was such a unique format and story and it gripped me. I am definitely going to keep reading all of this author’s work.

PS, if you’re one of my friends who are sensitive to the paranormal/supernatural, proceed with caution. This isn’t just a thriller.

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kamrynkoble's reviews 429 reviews

kamrynkoble's reviews
429 reviews