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kenomilligan's reviews
72 reviews
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
3.0
*Contains minor spoilers, but nothing that ruins the book*
Let me begin by saying I read Beach Read some months ago and was absolutely in love with it.
People We Meet On Vacation is different than Henry's previous book. I had high hopes going into it and was left seemingly disappointed.
It took me around four weeks to complete, which is very unusual. Typically a sign something isn't going well. And it wasn't. This book felt boring and endless, (but hang on, we'll get to that in a minute) and was just too lengthy at times.
I read a review and OP mentioned all of the little unnecessary details Henry inserted. And while I do agree, there were many unnecessary details, some of them were a bit necessary to the description of where Poppy and Alex were traveling to.
Honestly, I felt the story didn't get entertaining until the middle of chapter 25 (out of 36 + epilogue). *THIS BOOK IS A SLOW BURN* and even at the end, Poppy and Alex's relationship still didn't really fulfill me. I love all sorts of romance and relationships, but I didn't really fall in love with them. Their characters as a whole didn't grasp me. Although we spent well over 300 pages with them, I still felt as if I didn't know the characters well enough to empathize with them.
The plot also felt like one continuous straight road. Constant vacationing and moving from one location to the next. And yes, I know that was practically the entire point of the book, but it still felt so boring and a bit uneventful.
Can I mention the miscommunication trope? The whole friendship-ending tragedy in Croatia is one big misunderstanding and a (completely avoidable) lack of communication.
When I got to the spicy scenes, I was yet again left disappointed. Some sentences did make me go "Holy shit, I need to remember this forever", but other than that, it was terribly less descriptive than Beach Read.
Emily Henry is one of my favorite authors, and I can't wait to read her upcoming novel, but I have to say I was disappointed with this one. I agree, it's overhyped.
Please, do read this novel. It's got some great pieces, but if slow burns and mostly uneventful/underwhelming plots bore you, don't bother.
Let me begin by saying I read Beach Read some months ago and was absolutely in love with it.
People We Meet On Vacation is different than Henry's previous book. I had high hopes going into it and was left seemingly disappointed.
It took me around four weeks to complete, which is very unusual. Typically a sign something isn't going well. And it wasn't. This book felt boring and endless, (but hang on, we'll get to that in a minute) and was just too lengthy at times.
I read a review and OP mentioned all of the little unnecessary details Henry inserted. And while I do agree, there were many unnecessary details, some of them were a bit necessary to the description of where Poppy and Alex were traveling to.
Honestly, I felt the story didn't get entertaining until the middle of chapter 25 (out of 36 + epilogue). *THIS BOOK IS A SLOW BURN* and even at the end, Poppy and Alex's relationship still didn't really fulfill me. I love all sorts of romance and relationships, but I didn't really fall in love with them. Their characters as a whole didn't grasp me. Although we spent well over 300 pages with them, I still felt as if I didn't know the characters well enough to empathize with them.
The plot also felt like one continuous straight road. Constant vacationing and moving from one location to the next. And yes, I know that was practically the entire point of the book, but it still felt so boring and a bit uneventful.
Can I mention the miscommunication trope? The whole friendship-ending tragedy in Croatia is one big misunderstanding and a (completely avoidable) lack of communication.
When I got to the spicy scenes, I was yet again left disappointed. Some sentences did make me go "Holy shit, I need to remember this forever", but other than that, it was terribly less descriptive than Beach Read.
Emily Henry is one of my favorite authors, and I can't wait to read her upcoming novel, but I have to say I was disappointed with this one. I agree, it's overhyped.
Please, do read this novel. It's got some great pieces, but if slow burns and mostly uneventful/underwhelming plots bore you, don't bother.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
4.0
Great Expectations was my first classical novel. Although I did have to do read it for my Honors English class, I did find myself enjoying it greatly at times.
Pip was a likeable and very easy to be sympathetic towards. character and as he grew up, he went through many series of hardships and trauma. He suffers from a sort of depression.
The theme of unrequited love was relatable.
I wish I was more familiar with the language and structure of the writing. It was very difficult to understand what was said at times.
Many critics accuse Dickens of being sexist towards his female characters, but I don't agree. I'll save you of the long explanation.
With plenty of plot twists, variety in characters, and beyond enough irony, Great Expectations was definitely a introduction to classical novels for me...even if it is quite controversial.
Pip was a likeable and very easy to be sympathetic towards. character and as he grew up, he went through many series of hardships and trauma. He suffers from a sort of depression.
The theme of unrequited love was relatable.
I wish I was more familiar with the language and structure of the writing. It was very difficult to understand what was said at times.
Many critics accuse Dickens of being sexist towards his female characters, but I don't agree. I'll save you of the long explanation.
With plenty of plot twists, variety in characters, and beyond enough irony, Great Expectations was definitely a introduction to classical novels for me...even if it is quite controversial.
My Brilliant Life by Kim Ae-ran
5.0
i went into this novel expecting it to be a nice, simple book about Areum and his parents' love story. boy, was i wrong.
areum is a sixteen year old boy who has a rare medical condition. his body ages faster than his mind. physically, he's eighty, but mentally he's sixteen.
i caught myself smiling, laughing, and almost crying throughout this story.
going through Areum's story with him made me feel like i knew him personally, which made the ending so much harder to accept. ae-ran did such an amazing job writing this.
i finished this book within five days. not because it's short but because it's so addicting. i just had to know how Areum's condition was going to impact him next. i didn't want to put it down.
once i finished, i felt complete. the story felt complete. we receive the closure we need at the end.
Areum's story is incredibly unfortunate, but he tries to make the best of what he's been given. after reading this i feel like hugging him and telling him "i love you".
this will definitely become one of my favorite books.
areum is a sixteen year old boy who has a rare medical condition. his body ages faster than his mind. physically, he's eighty, but mentally he's sixteen.
i caught myself smiling, laughing, and almost crying throughout this story.
going through Areum's story with him made me feel like i knew him personally, which made the ending so much harder to accept. ae-ran did such an amazing job writing this.
i finished this book within five days. not because it's short but because it's so addicting. i just had to know how Areum's condition was going to impact him next. i didn't want to put it down.
once i finished, i felt complete. the story felt complete. we receive the closure we need at the end.
Areum's story is incredibly unfortunate, but he tries to make the best of what he's been given. after reading this i feel like hugging him and telling him "i love you".
this will definitely become one of my favorite books.
Astral Season, Beastly Season by Tahi Saihate
5.0
there is nothing that could have prepared me for the uneasiness, unsettling, beauty, and depth of this book.
this novel is so much more than the short summary leads on.
as i read through, i found myself despising and sympathizing the characters. it was like a seesaw, my emotions based off of their next action. when i novel began, i wasn't fond of yamashiro, and i thought morishita was just a little less insane than the previous. however, i grew to feel bad for yamashiro and his confusion. i hated morishita for his actions throughout. i despised his coldness and how easily he could say or do something so horrible. however, in the second section, i actually felt bad for him. i don't feel great saying that, but it's true. these characters are so much more than their actions. tahi saihate did an amazing job creating them.
everything about this book amazed me. the cover's secret meanings took my by surprise. the contemplation of the characters and decisions are brilliant. the characters actually suffer from utter confusion, sickness, and loss. they felt so entirely real.
this is the first book i've fully annotated, and i do not regret it.
it's just so amazing. my words do not do this novel justice. please, read it.
this novel is so much more than the short summary leads on.
as i read through, i found myself despising and sympathizing the characters. it was like a seesaw, my emotions based off of their next action. when i novel began, i wasn't fond of yamashiro, and i thought morishita was just a little less insane than the previous. however, i grew to feel bad for yamashiro and his confusion. i hated morishita for his actions throughout. i despised his coldness and how easily he could say or do something so horrible. however, in the second section, i actually felt bad for him. i don't feel great saying that, but it's true. these characters are so much more than their actions. tahi saihate did an amazing job creating them.
everything about this book amazed me. the cover's secret meanings took my by surprise. the contemplation of the characters and decisions are brilliant. the characters actually suffer from utter confusion, sickness, and loss. they felt so entirely real.
this is the first book i've fully annotated, and i do not regret it.
it's just so amazing. my words do not do this novel justice. please, read it.
Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
5.0
Perfection. There's no other way to describe this book.
I was in a reading slump when people on TikTok began saying they hated this book. I bit the bullet and started reading, curious to see what was *so bad about it*.
Nothing.
Nothing is bad about it.
Friends with benefits. PTSD. Unrequited love. Family. Happy ending. What more could you want?
I almost cried several times throughout. The way Colleen portrayed the PTSD Miles suffered through was amazing. Nothing felt wrong.
Tate wasn't annoying and childish. Miles wasn't overbearingly cold and stand-off-ish.
I don't think there could have been a better book to get me through my reading slump.
Every chapter and every word felt perfect. Everything fell into place.
Colleen Hoover has done it again.
I was in a reading slump when people on TikTok began saying they hated this book. I bit the bullet and started reading, curious to see what was *so bad about it*.
Nothing.
Nothing is bad about it.
Friends with benefits. PTSD. Unrequited love. Family. Happy ending. What more could you want?
I almost cried several times throughout. The way Colleen portrayed the PTSD Miles suffered through was amazing. Nothing felt wrong.
Tate wasn't annoying and childish. Miles wasn't overbearingly cold and stand-off-ish.
I don't think there could have been a better book to get me through my reading slump.
Every chapter and every word felt perfect. Everything fell into place.
Colleen Hoover has done it again.